FuturePrimitive Soap

Green Room - a new soap

2012-01-15T10:38:00.003Z

Cut up logs...do you see? do you see? It's only a cocoa line innit?!

A closer shot. Got that topping super white and made some super cool little wave crests with my chopstick.

A few cut bars.

Ok, so I made this new soap the other day for the spring line. I wouldn't normally show any of the soaps until the release is due to go live but this one I just love so wanted to share it.

The name Green Room is surf speak for riding the barrel of a wave. The aqua colour mimics the colour of the wave wall, whilst the white resembles the light shining through the break.

The blend is gorgeous. Uplifting and grounding at the same time. It's a blend of Rosemary & Spearmint with added Ho Wood oil and a smidge of Mandarin (hands up who loves Mandarin as much as me!).

The little bits inside are soap noodles - the offcuts from the edges of my bars after I've beveled them.

The base colour is a combo of green oxide & ultra blue. The cocoa line (yep sure is) and then a stark white TD topping dusted with Seaweed powder.

I simply cannot wait to use a bar.

Now onto 2 more new spring line soaps, of which both will also be scented with 100% pure essential oils.

We will also have a range of other products with some fancy schmancy fragrances (scrubs, body whips, whipped soap and aromatic oils) but for now I'm loving dreaming up new eo blends. I got the bug again!

A Friendship Soap

2012-01-08T11:48:00.000Z

Good Day!

I was asked to create a friendship soap for one of my good soaping friends, Donna from Valhalla Soap Co. Well, I actually chose Donna to make the soap for and she is making mine (can't wait!).

This is my first soap of the season and is a soap to signify hope and friendship and to give good wishes to Donna for the coming year. The colours I chose because I see Donna as an earthy soul with many hidden depths. The scent is a mossy, earthy, citrus made with fragrance and essential oils. I used Cypress, Palmarosa and Lemongrass eo's with 2 beautiful earthy fragrance oils.

The moss on the top was gathered from my garden.

The blend was chosen to give Donna protection, to bring her wealth and to give her vision.

I had so much fun making this soap.

Maybe because it isn't a soap from my range that I HAVE to make, I was allowed to get lost in my happy place for a while without that feeling of 'have to'.

I love making soap, that much is apparent. But when I have a list of soap to re-stock the fun can sometimes get a little lost. Getting creative is what I like best about soaping so making new ones and especially one for a very special somebody filled me with an inner peace.

I hope she likes the scent! (be a bummer if not huh?!).

Happy 2012 to you all! May it be a very happy, peaceful year for everybody.

Ever Forward...

2011-12-20T13:50:00.002Z

Yo!

I'm so behind on the blog front.

I see Britton from Haus of Gloi had Matt write their Xmas blog post (nice work) and she made me feel behind, hence why I felt compelled to write a few words before this year ends.

I have been meaning to write for the longest time but have been so caught up in a net of never-ending orders that when I do get a chance to sit I do just that.

So - First things First.

What a crazy old year it's been. Matt and I went from being not so busy with our ventures to all out crazy busy within one year. I blame YouTube.

Before I graced the video world with my presence my soap sales were good, but not this good.

YouTube opened up a whole new world to us here in our little house. We have both found new friends, some of whom I talk to regularly (Kim from My Natures Art, Donna from Valhalla soap co) and whom have become life long friends. Never ever thought that would happen. I like to keep myself to myself somewhat and at first doing videos just felt silly. Yanno, you're talking but there's nobody in the room....only there is....albeit miles away behind computer screens. I have almost 500 subscribers to my channel now and counting. It doesn't come without it's nutters let me assure you, I've met rather a lot of 'bitchy' women and also a person with a rubber glove fetish! I hardly ever wear gloves anymore to make soap due to that little incident. Scarred for life.

I have grown to enjoy YouTube, I no longer feel self conscious as soon as I hit the record button. It feels so much more natural now that I know the people who are watching me and I them.

It has brought me some kind of solace and some extra success, which is always a bonus.

Almost every surface in this house has something on it, whether it be piles of orders printed off ready for addressing and packaging, tissue paper to wrap it nicely, postage labels, cardboard boxes, bubble envelopes...literally every surface in our home has some work 'stuff' plonked on the top of it. Whilst I am aware of how some folks don't appreciate the videos, I can't mock it as it's brought me so much more than I ever anticipated....but I promise to be a better blogger like I used to be.

I plan to bring you more of my surroundings in pictures, some more information on essential oils I'm loving and blending and maybe a few blends for you to try yourself.

I also aim to seek out some new soapers with new blogs. I miss the days of searching blogger for newbies.

Looking back on this past year I can say it's been a good one, a happy one and one of revelations.

I hope I can say the same about the one coming our way.

After the Xmas season is over in just a few days I hope my head space will allow me to dream up my spring range. At the moment I'm stumped. I know what I want, it's just sitting in complete silence and jotting down ideas and blends then trialing them in soap tests to see if they work.

The time between Xmas and New Year will allow me that.

I sincerely hope all is well with my fellow bloggers and look forward to seeing you and hearing from you in the new year.

To finish I leave you with some of my favourite products from 2011:

FuturePrimitive Soap Co - Spoonley Woods soap - a blend of Eucalyptus, Pine, Cinnamon Leaf & Cypress oil with cornflower petals.

Haus of Gloi - Peach Mama soap (the most sexy peach I've ever sniffed).

Bodygoodies 'Fij' soap - buy it! Your skin will say 1,000,000 thanks!

Valhalla Soap Co. 'Avalon Sunrise' soap - Matt's all time favourite this year (he literally snagged it right out of my stash box!).

Other companies to look out for if you haven't already:

My Natures Art - no soap above because the ones I have are all sold out! She be busy!

A Life Deliberate Soap Co.

Sonia' Bliss

A Breath of French Air

Missouri River Soap (Sparklebrook)

Wicked Scentuals

There are more I know there are...but you just have to wait for me to remember them!

In the meantime, take a browse.

Ones I long for:

That's all for now...more in the new year!

Good Day x

Yule Release

2011-10-18T12:06:00.000+01:00

Hello lovelies!

The FuturePrimitive Yule Release will go live tomorrow at 8pm (London Time).
I have had the most fun creating the cupcake soaps (I know..so not me). At first, my attempts at 'frosting' were dire but after much practice I found it a bit of a doddle and actually rather pleasing.
To see a whole table lined up with fancy ass pastel shaded cupcake soaps is really rather exciting and grin inducing. I was squealing at them!
Thoughts of cake, chocolates and rich foods led me to create them. I think I have a problem with diets so this is the next best thing to actually biting into gooey cakes and toffees!
There are also 3 Yule bar soaps, including the ever popular Snowdrift (there's something so comforting about the scent). Great Expectations is the other bar soap, then the infamous 'Midnight Marauder' - yanno...the one with the footprints and sugar dustings.
Along with the soaps there will be the new formula Bubbling Sugar Scrubs (actually more of a froth than a bubble - name change?), Body Whips and Aromatic Oils in frosted ruby red bottles. There will be a few stocking filler treats added to the range as we go along. Expect Bubble Bars en masse!
In all, there are 12 new scents but not all scents are available in every product type. Out of the 12 scents, 7 of them are available in the complete range. I only have one set of hands...!

'Chocolatier' cupcake soap

'Glacial' Body Whip

'Cratchit's Lemon Tea' cupcake soap

'Midnight Marauder' Bubbling Sugar Scrub

'Pickwick's Pear' Aromatic Oil.

This season, we have a theme going on throughout the range. After visiting Portsmouth at the end of the summer with my Mum I was inspired to create a range for Christmas based on Dickens.

Deb, a fellow FB and YT regular gave me the idea after reminding me that Dickens was born in Portsmouth and what could be more Christmassy than Dickens? Well, to a girl living in rural England, nothing quite frankly!

So, Charlie boy is my inspiration. Men in Top hats, skinny black trousers with pointed boots, fat tummies, Ebeneezer Scrooge, The Pickwick Papers, The Old Curiosity Shop, Victoriana, Curios, Oliver Twist and Great Expectations gave me a good starting point to set off creating scents to mimic the 'bad ol days' of England. Let's face it, his stories were certainly not for the faint hearted. Take The Old Curiosity Shop for instance - what happened to poor old Nell has me keeled over in tears.

What Dickens' stories do however, is draw the reader into a world unknown. A world of intrigue, curiosity and darkness along with excitement and a little happiness. But most of all, over-indulgence!

So, here we have it. Some sweet delights, some dark delicacies and some old time favourites to pamper the body and grace the pulse points.

Happy pre Christmas everybody.

Autumnal Inspiration...

2011-09-25T10:23:00.000+01:00

This post is more of a pictorial story of a place Matt and I went to visit on Thursday.
Tithe Barn is situated about 4 miles away from our house and this is the first time we've ever been to see it (idiots). It's one of the National Trust properties we have put off going to just because there are so many others with (I say) more interest. This place just blew us away.
To think it has been standing for over 600 years is just silly. Built in 1376, Tithe Barn is probably one of the longest standing barns in the UK, and it's right on our doorstep.
The floor is beautiful, although it is covered in pigeon droppings. They are nesting up in the rafters. They made a lovely sound, flapping their wings and coo-ing to one another. Their constant chatter made the place that little bit more enchanting.

Stable block.

Creeping ivy

Cider press (reminded me of Britton's Olde Cider Haus soap!)

Long shot of inside the barn

Barn corner...look at the stone work.

Little windows & air vents

The Entrance

We stayed for about 40 minutes, took some pics and a video of Matt picking up the regurgitated remains of a vole/mouse from a Barn Owl, but I won't show that!
Hope you enjoyed a little insight into our little local world.

Autumn Release is Live!

2011-08-22T13:31:00.001+01:00

↑ The Black Ferris Body Whip

↑ The Black Ferris Bubbling Sugar Scrub

↑ Dust Witch Soap

↑ Shadow Show Soap

↑ The Black Ferris Soap

All available to buy along with all the other products in the Autumn/Halloween Release.

There will be much more coming shortly as the season progresses.

Enjoy!

bit of porn anyone?

2011-08-10T12:26:00.000+01:00

White Witch pillows....

Below....NEW! Whipped soap. I lost my original recipe and spent days trying to recreate it only to be left with lots of failures. After just over a week, I found the original recipe!

Here we have it...flippy, whippy, silky, creamy soap with the most amazing lather I've ever experienced. There will be a range available for Halloween/Autumn.

Brand new soap - to be revealed soon...

Rows of cut White Witch...

Hope you enjoyed that!

Last few sale days remaining...and then....

2011-08-09T15:11:00.000+01:00

With just a few days left of the Summer sale (it ends on Sunday 14th) we are working behind the scenes to bring in our Halloween/Autumn product release.

We will have 3 new soaps with complimentary products (sugar scrub, whip, perfume) along with some strictly limited edition products, which will only be up in the shop for a very short time before (dare I mention) work commences on Xmas production (sorry).

We have a theme for Halloween - all will be revealed shortly.

I may have tweeted/FB'd already but I certainly haven't blogged in a while. Apologies!

The Summer Solstice Release went absolutely nuts with me working like a pack horse trying to re-stock products that sold out straight away. Thrilling but tiring!

Sooo...I have tried to get ahead of myself for this next one so that I'm not stressing constantly and driving Matt insane!

Next week I will be taking a mini break with my mum. We are going to Portsmouth in Hampshire to look at old war ships in the old dockyard. We will look at 'The Warrior' & 'The Victory' and I'm sure more inspiration for soapy creations will infuse my brain. The smell of tarred rope does it for me! Oooh yeah! I will take pics and will try to blog a few for you.

It will be nice to stroll leisurely along the beach, putting the world to rights whilst eating freshly caught fish. It will be nice to be away from work for a few days with no excuses to 'just finish this'.

I hope you are all doing well my dears. I for one am loving the slow arrival of Autumn. There is already a scent in the hedgerows here...ripe plums!

Be good x

PS: (If you want to order use TWENTY in the discount box at checkout BTW. Everything in the shop has 20% off. Yep everything)

NEW Website is LIVE!

2011-07-19T13:29:00.001+01:00

I worked all weekend to get our new website up and running.

The old one was so limited in what it could do. I wanted more involvement from our customers such as testimonials that were live, all the social media apps in one place and a more simplistic looking home page with all the mod cons.

Now all I need to do is tackle the e commerce area of the new site. I have created it...but we all know how much work is involved in uploading stock inventory with pictures and differing postage rates etc etc...

Anyways, I hope you like it, and I hope you get involved with us a little more.

Join the Facebook page (I ramble there quite often), follow my Twitter, see my YouTube and Vimeo vids and write to me if you like!

I guess all this social media avoidance didn't go too well for me. Have we all become dependent upon people who we never see?!!

Holibobs

2011-07-03T10:12:00.000+01:00

Hi all,

Just a quickie to say I'm taking a break with Matt for a week.

We will be around, but will be doing 'our thing'.

The Etsy shop is closed at present (and may not re-open).

The online shop & website remain open and you may place orders, but they will be dealt with on 11th July.

Just to say a huge thank you for making the Summer Solstice release a huge success. I am so grateful for your orders and your messages and comments. I have re-stocked the products, which sold out fast and will be introducing a few new 'High Summer' soaps to keep the release interesting and refreshed up to it's end date of August 21st.

Have a fab week.

Tiggy

We are LIVE!

2011-06-22T16:57:00.000+01:00

The Summer Solstice Release has launched.

We were inundated yesterday and sold out of a few items, which have been re-stocked!

The only one in the line up to come within the next couple of weeks is Strawberry Patch soap.

It may take on a new look next time but the scent will remain the same.

Thank you so very much to all who ordered yesterday, including the loonies across the pond who set their alarms to wake up so as not to miss it! Lol!

Thank you Thank you Thank you!!!

Summer Solstice release - coming in one week!

2011-06-14T10:29:00.000+01:00

From the top:

St. Ives Bubbling Sugar Scrub (new formula)

Peachnut Handmade Soap

Strawberry Patch Body Whip

My Blue Heaven Macaroon Eco Bubble Bar

Just a few of the products due to be released on 21st June - that's Tuesday coming.

The release will go live at 1.16pm as mentioned previously and will be available on the FuturePrimitive website as well as our Etsy.

We have several new products (some strict Ltd editions, which will only be available in small numbers) and several new scents.

The scents we have developed in house are as follows:

Strawberry Patch - Crushed strawberries, blueberries & raspberries cloaked in double cream with a droplet of cocoa absolute (my current favourite). (Available as: soap, eco bubble bar, bubbling sugar scrub, body whip, aromatic perfume oil)

St. Ives - A fresh marine blend of seaweed, salt spray & citrus zest with a drydown of musk. (Available as soap, eco bubble bar, bubbling sugar scrub, body whip, aromatic perfume oil)

Urban Jungle - Freshly cut bamboo cane with white frankincense, patchouli, lemon and a hint of ripe berry. (Available as soap, eco bubble bar, bubbling sugar scrub, body whip, aromatic perfume oil)

Peachnut - Ripe juicy peaches drizzled with coconut water and a fine mist of black patchouli and oakmoss absolute (Available as soap, eco bubble bar, bubbling sugar scrub, body whip, aromatic perfume oil).

Ltd editions:

7 Sins Macaroon eco bubble bar

Dewberry Macaroon eco bubble bar

My Blue Heaven Macaroon eco bubble bar

There may be a few more products included...we shall all have to see

June 21st - Summer Solstice Release is coming...

2011-06-03T12:26:00.001+01:00

Another sneaky peek of another new soap set to go live in the shop on 21st June.

The one above is named 'Urban Jungle'. A blend of very very green, oriental notes. Freshly cut bamboo cane, Patchouli & Frankincense oils and a hint of Lemony goodness.

A lorra layers!

Peachnut & St.Ives Sneak Peek

2011-05-17T11:22:00.000+01:00

↑Peachnut soap - a blend of fully ripe peaches, coconut water, Patchouli droplets and Oakmoss absolute. Leaves of soap on the top, along with Peach stones, Muscovado sugar and Oakmoss scatterings.

↑ St.Ives soap - a fragrant blend of mineral-rich Seaweed, Salt spray and Citrus peel. There were supposed to be little boats throughout but it didn't go as planned. Ah well.

↑close up.

So, we are set to release these 2 soaps along with another new one, which is yet to be made (this week I promised myself) by the name of Jungle, which is a green blend of freshly cut Bamboo cane, Frankincense & Patchouli oils.

The scents have been taken so well in the bubble bars, which I was secretly researching so I'm happy to be going with these 3 new scents for summer.

Also in the release will be Shea butter scrubs, Body whips, (bubble bars of course) and Perfume oils to coincide with the soaps.

The summer product launch shall happen at 1.16pm GMT on 21st June (the precise time of the summer solstice in old Blighty).

In Pacific Time that will be around 5am I guess. Bit early for you lot!

I hope you like them.

Eco Bubble Bars launch

2011-05-06T14:05:00.000+01:00

↑ Strawberry Patch bubble bar. A blend of fresh strawberries and thick double cream.

↑ Seascape Bubble Bar - Marine fresh with notes of seaweed & salt spray

↑ Rook & Raven Bubble Bar - Sweet Orange & Black Patchouli tempered with Vanilla & Sandalwood.

↑ Jungle Bubble Bar -my fave! Fresh cut bamboo cane (just like the real thing) with a drizzle of Patchouli (light) and pure Oakmoss oil.

↑Peachnut Bubble Bar - freshly sliced peaches with sweetened Coconut milk. A very nice tropical holiday blend.

So, them's me new Eco Bubble Bars made with biodegradable bubble agents. I have tried to perfect my recipe for months now and I finally got it right after a lot of failed attempts.

I've had some great feedback so far and am myself really rather happy with them.

I've always been a fan of the Lush bubble bars (especially blue skies & fluffy white clouds & candy bar) but wanted to create bars, which wouldn't cause dryness or iritations down below (ahem).

I have these suckers down!

Now my next thing is to create them purely with essential oils. Not easy given that they evaporate a lot faster than fragrances. Blending both is proving to be a good move so far but I know that a lot of you will want to see 100% naturally fragranced varieties.

Leave it with me.

Beltane on Bredon

2011-05-04T10:03:00.000+01:00

Please shut the gate.

Enter

Branches

New soap...hmmm

Fresh tracks

Wall

Shepherd's Step

Miles & Miles of wall

Style

How Green Was My Valley

Holes

Egg

Elephant Stone

Old Barn.

A little late posting this but Matt and I took a walk on 1st May to Bredon Hill, Worcs. UK.

Here is my little account of our day. I hope you enjoy the pics.

T'was tres beautiful...and I have a lot of inspiration for new summer soaps.

Now...how do I get a dry stone wall effect into the middle of a slab of soap?

A review..and another thank you to Julia!

2011-05-02T08:04:00.000+01:00

http://cocobongsoaps.blogspot.com/

The wonderful Julia Kalkbrenner has written a wonderful review of my handmade soap over on her blog.

Please have a little read if that's what floats yer boat.

A thank you to Julia from Cocobong Soaps!

2011-03-08T18:55:00.000Z

'Erbs and Lemons

2011-03-03T10:26:00.000Z

Above is the new style 'Herbaceous' soap, which has had a complete overhaul.
This soap used to have the infamous black line with a white base and a duck egg blue topping.
Time for change. She has become more grounded, more earthy, more fitting for her name.
She has soil, she has pebbles, she has grass and she has a string of flowers draped over her head.
The scent remains the same. No change required there. This all-pure essential oil blend is incredibly uplifting for gardeners. Top notes of lemon-scented Litsea sparkle amongst Thyme, Rosemary and Marjoram. A nasal clearing blend, which is fabulous for giving the body a boost after a long day digging.

And here we have little Miss Inconspicuous - the new 'Lemonade Lounger' for 2011.
This soap has changed so much during my time making it. The 2 black lines were present last year, but again...yawn...I've done it to death so I changed this up a bit with a scattering of vanilla beans (and paste), again Dead Sea Mud was sprinkled inside and on the top along with some dark Muscovado sugar, which has melted into the top of the bars.
The scent has been changed a little. Inside this beauty is a blend of Lemon, Litsea, Ho Leaf and light Patchouli. Again, an earthy base note with zingy lemons and soft buttery after-wafts!
Balls of all colours are dropped through to add a bit of somethin' somethin' and the Vanilla bean paste is visible so it also takes on a dirty look. I LOVE it!
If you want to see me make it....click here.
Enjoy!
xx

One door opens...and one needs to shut.

2011-02-16T11:23:00.001Z

The first 'drop' to appear in our garden. ↑

Muscari 'Baby's Breath' - just peeking thru ↑

↑ Crocus with their jackets closed...they've not opened yet to show the saffron.

↑ Eranthis Hyemalis (or winter aconite) in bloom.
Aren't they so pretty? I love their ballerina skirts!

↑ Echinops 'Blue Glow' with brand new furry leaves.
This is the plant with the globe-shaped blue ball flowers.
I love this!

↑ Allium 'Globemaster' in full leaf.
The flower bud and stem won't be up until around May. A long wait...but really really worth it. Bees love the flowers.
These are fab. The flower head gets bigger and bigger.
Each flower bud opens up like a little star and stretches out over the top of the already opened buds, creating a huge globe by the time it's done.
The power of plants and their habit amazes me. This is the part of spring and summer I look forward to the most. I absolutely revel in watching plants hatch into full bloom. It doesn't matter what kind of plant...grass, bulb, wild, hybrid...all have so much to offer the eye and I'm ready to take it all in and to find my inspiration for soap in all of the plants I grow and love.
Not just in my garden either...outside on our walks by the river...up in the hills...in the woods...wherever we end up this coming year you can be sure I'll write about it, Tweet about it, Facebook it, Blog it.
Actually...maybe not all of those things. This whole social media thing is becoming a bit of a joke to me, personally.
I was just having a think last night about all the things I do on the internet and to be really honest, most of it has started to make me annoyed and even sad at times.
I do it and have followed the masses and become part of a cyber world I can't say I care for too much.
It's ridiculous. I have a Blackberry...so when it flashes red it means I either have a mention on Facebook or Twitter or it means I have an email to read. I don't want this! I want my peace back. A while ago, my phone broke and I had to wait for a new one. Lemme just tell you...those few days were bliss. NO flashing lights, NOBODY asking me a question about soap or whatever. NOTHING. NO BOTHER.
Then the new phone arrived...and I'm back on it like a lunatic.
I can't take this anymore. I want out. BUT, I've made friends and acquaintances and have become part of what I feel is an imaginary world. I know...I know these people are real, but I hope you get what I mean. It's not like knocking on a friends door and really laughing about life together is it? Or that spur of the moment thing. Everything you write has passed already.
So...what I'm saying is I like my real life better. I prefer my reality to my cyber.
I don't know how to make it turn around, but I am going to make an effort to leave my phone alone and to just get on with all that I do without unnecessary invasion.
I don't mind the emails so much. People can write a little more than the 140 character allowance you get on Twitter.
I like to interact, don't get me wrong...but there has to be a cull on all of these apps.
I'm excited about the prospect of some peace and to gain inspiration from all the nature on my doorstep.
It's time for change.

Walter Sickert....stirred something in me

2011-02-11T09:59:00.000Z

On my birthday last week Matt and I took a trip to Oxford. We went to visit the Ashmolean museum for the second time. It's been a couple of years since we last went and quite a lot has moved/changed.

The last time I went I didn't have the time or the head space to really enjoy the paintings and the tapestries and the India dept. as I would have liked so this time since it was just Matt and I, we strolled around looking at the items, which stirred something inside us both.

Matt of course was checking out all the pottery (he's a slipware potter if you didn't know) and I fell in love with the Indian God sculptures and the Linens, the Egyptian Gold and the areas dedicated to all the great painters.

Walter Sickert though was the one who's paintings made me stop dead in my tracks. Not because I have anything in common with the paintings, but because they are so thought provoking and rather ahead of their time.

This one above just blew me away. I stood in front of it for quite a while before Matt found me.

I took this close up pic along with the storyboard for you all to see.

I love the expressions and the bottle on the mantlepiece and how everything in the home is as it should be...apart from the occupants.

Saddening. I almost want to jump in the pic and say "You go one way...You go the other"!

But at the same time I can see why they stay as they are.

Thoughts?

White Witch..she's back

2011-02-07T19:06:00.001Z

She's been away for a little while. I was waiting on my Geranium oil supply, which had increased in price I may add! Almost doubled since the last time I bought it.

So...I had to wait before making this new batch. I had a little time to think about a few tweaks to make her more sumptous.

She's not too different..but she got a little fatter and her top half has increased in size (hmm..bit like my good self).

Drizzled over the top of the peaks is a lovely Organic Cocoa Butter. You can't really see it as it melted into the still-warm soap a little but there is a very slight crust.

The scent is stronger and more potent.

This soap is the creamiest I make but I can't tell you why that is. Whether the E.O blend has something to do with it I'm not sure...it's the same base oil mix as all the others but it just lathers into a thick cream like no other. A good thing but I wish I Could explain why.

I guess some things are just magic and outta my control!

Anyways...she's back in the shop and on Etsy if you'd like a chunk of her.

7 Sins...

2011-01-17T07:51:00.000Z

Stylin': Deep, dark chocolate cake with fondant icing fingers and cinnamon quills with thick dollops of whipped cream, dusted with mixed spice.

Scentin': 7 sins...of naughtiness. Banana cake infused with Ginger, topped with Vanilla Frosting and drizzled with melted Dark Chocolate. Toasted Madagascan Vanilla bean with a dribble of Honey and finished with a scattering of Hot Buttered Popcorn.

Butterin': Un-refined, dark, organic Cocoa Butter from Kenya.

A bit more....I decided to have a pop at creating a cake inspired soap after watching Kia from Beacon Creations do her thang on YouTube. She has such a flair for creating the ultimate in textured tops and for creating a want for her products inside me so deep that I want to buy her soaps all the time just lately. (i just placed an order...shhh!).

She makes all kinds of different soaps and I love how she talks you through what she's been doing. Her video's also chill me out so much so that I watch them before slumber.

Anyways, this soap is a one off from me. I rarely use 100% fragrance oils in my soaps so this is like somebody else made it. I walk into the curing room and sniff it not really registering that I made it!

I was so happy with the results though, really. Thanks Kia!

At this time of the year my thoughts turn to pastels, to finely iced cakes and to flowers and leaves...and my birthday is just around the corner so I am starting to feel very spring-like and inspired by what's happening around me in the outside world so much that my soap ideas are now flowing for summer soaps.

I have a few from the original line up to make once my Patchouli oil turns up (how I got so low I don't know), then I'll be cracking on with some newbies again.

Hope you like this one.

5 New Soaps..and a lil Sale

2011-01-09T07:57:00.000Z

Yep! Been busy...and there's still more to come.

In order of appearance (top to bottom), the new soaps are:

Temple Ball - a blend of Petitgrain, Orange, Benzoin (the very thick sticky stuff) and Nutmeg. Inside, what you can see is Coltsfoot leaf, which is know to aid the healing and the itch of eczema. There are random chunks of cocoa-dusted soap inside as well. It smells very fresh with a warm spicy background. 100% Natural.

NonScents - a blend of absolutely nothing. Just pure soap with extra virgin olive oil, organic cocoa butter and organic shea butter. The dark line and the crunchy looking topping is Aussie organic olive green clay. Smells like unscented soap! 100% Natural.

Festival 2011 - a fragrant blend of heady and dusty Nag Champa incense dipped in thick, black Indonesian Patchouli with a puff of woodsmoke. This is my favourite scent at the moment and will be available as bathing grains, SWASH and perfume oil in due course. The colours are yellow, blue and green oxide with Aussie organic red clay and Dead Sea Mud. 96% Natural.

Antiguan Firecracker - a tropical floral blend of Frangipani & Lilac petals lifted with Sicilian Lemon oil and Lavender oil. On the top are deep red rose petals, lavender buds (from my own bushes) and dried Chamomile buds. The colours are aqua, deep red and white to mimic the colours of my Antiguan holiday back in 2007. 98% Natural.

Garden of Cupid - named by Aleyah Jordon who entered our Facebook giveaway (she still hasn't come forth to claim her prize)...so if she's reading!

A blend of Sweet Fennel, Geranium, Lavender, Ylang Ylang and sticky pine resin. The top notes are the fennel and lavender, which then warms to a floral heart. At the end of the sniff you get the fresh pine aroma...but only if your nose is good at detective work. Inside the soap is Juniper Berry meal. 100% Natural.

All will be available from the shop at the end of January....or if you can't wait they're up in the Etsy shop to purchase and finish curing at your end until ready on 25th January.

Oh...before I forget and have to edit this post again...there's a SALE on in our online shop and in our Etsy! Go see x

Thanks for reading!

A New Season...

2011-01-02T21:07:00.000Z

The last frozen piles of snow are now far and few between. The earth is wet and rich. The smell in the air is dank and cold. There are no hints of florals or greenery; only a dark & biting, nasal cooling wind.

Some of the trees we encountered today had signs of new buds but it's as if everything is waiting...with one eye open. Waiting for the first warmth of the sun to grace it...me included.

January.

A month I have come to value and enjoy as it enables me to forsee a future. There is a calmness, bringing with it and a time to reflect on the previous year, whilst gathering inspiration from the great outdoors for new scent blends and soap colourings to mix into future batters!

The new calendar is up and awating notes of soap curing times.

5 new soaps are curing on the rack filling the air in the curing room with a strong, herbal aroma.

The plant season is upon me so some final amendments are to be made before orders fly in from all over.

I'm poised, willing, ready and able (i think) for the delights that Mr. 2011 will bring my way.

Hello.

pictures taken today at Tiddesley Woods, Pershore, Worcs. UK.

Snowfall in our sleepy little town of Evesham

2010-12-22T08:56:00.001Z

Pretty lights in the trees - the park side of our river

'Trying' to get dark...I love the light in this pic.

The river starting to freeze!

One of our finest trees covered in lights. You can purchase a bulb each year to honour a loved one..usually one who's passed over.

The view from the workman bridge...

Matt and bird friends

A lovely snow-laden tree in the meadow.

Frozen river..again.

A beautiful sun aura.

The top of the Abbey Park.

Our trusty old Bell Tower.

Hope you enjoyed those! I've not seen snow like this here since the 1980's and it's showing no signs of stopping yet. More is expected today! Haven't driven for almost a week now and don't intend to. Shopping has been a proper chore. I remember my Mom doing the shopping this way when we were kids...so I'm not going to complain that I can't take the car to Tesco. I'm just getting on with it. I'm doing my xmas shopping in short bursts with large reusable bags. Yesterday I did the meat shopping and some xmas pressies.

Today it's vegetables and tins. I'm not looking forward to the tins at all...so I'm going as local as I can then will trudge into town for more fun and games and money spending. Surprising what you can get in town these days! I'm enjoying myself!

Yesterday I got a maxi dress, some new knickers and a pair of shoes for just £11. Even the girl at the till laughed when she gave me the total.

Merry Christmas to all who read my blog....hope you're all having the most wonderful time too.

I have until 4th Jan off work at my part time job so expect a lot of new soap pics! How excellent to have all that time to do what I love to do.

Wooo Woooo!

xxx

Snowdrift....

2010-12-15T15:06:00.000Z

It's back! but not for long mind....

The soaps I have available are the soaps made in the CPOP videos on the YouTube Channel.

Click the pic to be directed to the shop and to take a peek at the fragrance description.

It's truly wonderful...but only here for Xmas so be quick if you want to bag one.

I have about 11 left out of the batch of 43 made!

Madness.

CPOP pics - Herbaceous Handmade Soap

2010-12-09T13:19:00.001Z

a slab of herbaceous soap

herbaceous logs

more logs and more logs below!

Hello again.

If you click and enlarge you can take a good look at how these soaps turned out after being oven baked on a very low heat for 1 hour...then left in the oven overnight.

These were so nice to cut and not at all messy like my usual cold process soap.

As you can see they came out really well.

This of course is not to say all CPOP soap will come out so well....time will tell and I'm sure I will have more hiccups as I progress with this method.

For now, I'm loving the immediate results. It's fantastic to not worry about cure times at the busiest time of the year.

These I will leave a couple more days to fully harden.

The No.11 soap I cut the other day looked the same as this only now it has been left a good few days, it looks just like regular cured soap.

So happy!

Re-Stocks and CPOP!

2010-12-08T16:51:00.000Z

I'm having a Jo moment! She too is having to try the CPOP method of soaping to try to get soaps cured faster. I've never been so rushed for the run up to xmas so have had to take drastic action to get soap made rather than just sell out.
Let's face it, come January we may not get any orders at all so if I can make the most of this crazy period then it's all good. I'm just telling myself to remember to breathe deeper rather than fast and frantic. Stressed out or what!
Anyways, you may have watched the vids I put up on You Tube showing the results of my CPOP (if not, it's here and another here). Not sure what you make of the vids that I do but they're there if you wish to see 'em.
The first went badly! Crumbly tops, which I put down to not covering my soap when in the oven. I think the crumbling may be half due to the clay content in this particular soap (Elijah's Comfort with the red clay) and erm....yeah...not sure! they kinda puffed up but only on the first 3mm of topping...the bottom was much better but went a bit 'weird'. Not happy with that little lot so I will do another batch and see how it goes.
Sharon from Platypus Dreams told me to cover it up when in the oven so for the last two batches (No.11 & Herbaceous) I did just that and whaddya know?! Perfect 10! They are amazing.
Two days curing afterwards has hardened them up no end. I can't believe it. They're like smooth rocks...so shiny and new looking. Even when I cure for 6 weeks or so they don't go this hard. I will report on their ability to stay put once I've used them. By that I mean how long they last when using them daily.
Sharon from Morgan Street said I'll never look back once I've done this and if it all goes well like the last two then I'll be stoked.
I will put some pics up of the CPOP successes later...need to cut 'em up.
Now...as for Jo's batches I can't explain what on earth has happened there. I've tried and had a think but can't work it out. I guess after a few more goes at this we will have enough notes to pass onto others wanting to give it a go.
Next up on tonight's agenda is a new batch of Lavenders Black. God this soap smells good. A good un for blokes too. A blend of Lavender, Juniper, Black Pepper and Vetiver. Cooorrr!
We'll see how this one CPOP's.
Oh...what I did with last night's Herbaceous was cooked it at 80C/175F for 1hour then turned the oven off and left it in there overnight. My oven is relatively new and the top oven I put it into has no fan...whereas the bottom one does and I've heard that can cause more problems too....
I must say however that I love the tradition of regular cured cold process soap. It has a feel of old about it...a vision in my head of old barns in Marseille filled to the brim with curing soaps...and an old geezer going about his daily business making his soaps for the local yocals. Ya get me? Innit!
x

Number Twelve

2010-12-04T07:40:00.000Z

A new hair salon opened recently in Evesham and is being run by a good friend of mine called Graham West. He has been hairdressing since we were at college and has been on an amazing journey having worked as a trainer for Toni & Guy, Vidal Sassoon and Matrix.
He has opened up his new (and rather beautiful) salon on Vine Street, Evesham. The salon is called 'Number Twelve' and is decorated in gorgeous vintage French style.
They have just taken their first delivery of goodies from FuturePrimitive.
They are the 2nd stockist to take the whole range (or a very substantial part of it). They are stocking Soaps, Bathing Grains, Aromatic Perfume Oils and a brand new product - SWASH POTS (sugar wash).
The salon is in one of the best locations in town and Graham's business partner Angelina has a real customer led attitude (a sell sand to the Arabs type o gal) so I'm really hoping she gets that stuff flying off the shelves....it's certainly her intention!
They are already hugely busy, but then they would be as Graham's loyal followers will go wherever he goes...and I'm on the cancellation list! (in need of a few layers myself).
I think this is the beginning of something very special for Graham and I wish him and Angelina and all the staff the very best with their new business venture.
Expect great things people of Evesham....you've NEVER had it so good.
Evesham was just screaming out for a salon of this calibre. We haven't been blessed with such an amazing hairdresser in years.
I'm excited!

Tiggy from FuturePrimitive Soap cutting Inches Lane soap

2010-11-30T10:24:00.000Z

Cutting Inches Lane soap. This is the 2nd batch of this soap, which is inspired by my Grandma and her old medicine chest...and the house she lived in on 'Inches Lane'.
A essential oil blend of Pine, Rosemary, Eucalyptus, Citrus & a smidge of Patchouli.
I mention a disinfectant like scent...but really it is very medicinal rather than school hall. It kinda reminds me of the smell of school halls when school is out and the mop buckets come into force.
I loved that smell...!
But...it's not quite so erm....school hall-y if you get me!
Enjoy x
Oh yeah...this soap is just regular cold process whereas the ones in the oven are CPOP.
Big massive hearty thanks to Sharon at Morgan Street Soap for her help and knowledge, which helped when trying this method for only the 2nd time ever. First time I got a volcano but there was some mix up with celcius and farenheit! (sssshhh - that was a long long time ago!)
Will post pics or video when I cut them in a sec.

cutting Potters Bar Soap

2010-11-30T10:21:00.000Z

A video diary of me cutting soap...
First up is Potters Bar soap with an essential oil blend of Eucalyptus, Fennel, Lavender & Lemon.
With layers of pale pistachio green enhanced with wheatbran to exfoliate the hands of potters and gardeners. The perfect soap for this house.

Headline News...in The Telegraph

2010-11-26T15:25:00.001Z

Hi gang!

Last Saturday we were featured in The Saturday Telegraph newspaper and have since been absolutely inundated with orders, which has enabled me to breathe a huge sigh of instant relief.

Those who know me well know that Matt and I have been under tremendous strain with money and have been holding out for a miracle that will enable us to continue with our little cottage industry.

This may only be short term...who knows...?

But it has enabled me to spend some well-earned cash on a shed load of ingredients so that I can get on with new introductions for 2011. I'm so excited!

If you missed the article on our Facebook page, please click here to be directed to the website 'In The Press' area. If you click 'The Telegraph' you can read it as a pdf.

If you click view you can change the page display to 'two up' so you can read it as it was displayed in the paper.

If any of our new customers are reading....thank you all sincerely from the bottom of my heart for ordering! It means an awful lot.

I've been tweeting and facebooking about it all....so I'm really sorry if I've bored some of my soapy friends...but really, I can't believe the response we had. It's truly incredible and makes me feel very, very happy to know that people really like the soaps as much as I love to create them all.

Next up....there will be a trip back to the archives....SNOWDRIFT soap is making a come back shortly. Those of you who tried it and loved it will be over the moon!

Keep 'em peeled!

Swash...to strike, move or wash with a splashing sound

2010-11-19T16:29:00.000Z

Rook & Raven Swash Pot & White Witch Swash Pot below.

Yeah, that sounds like fun to me.

To make a noise whilst scrubbing up with a ultra polishing scrubby wash.

That's exactly what we want you to do with these new 'Swash Pots' (sugar wash).

Scoop out a globule, tease it a little then gently rub it all over your bod (not your face, silly) in circular motions (not you, the swash) then rinse clean away to leave incredibly smooth, pampered skin.

These work a treat, I've been using them in my bathroom for the past couple of weeks and they're wonderous! I love a shea butter scrub but not so much the ring around the bath after...so these are great for a rush job after work. You know the kind...when you don't want to clean up after your sorry self because you're work tired and all you want/need is a glass of red. I get like that rather a lot...ask Matt.

Mmm Mm.

Available very very soon in our little shop of delights.

The available scents will be:

Rook & Raven - left alone but with a bit of lilac for colour

Lavenders Black - with a smidge of activated charcoal to deep cleanse

No.11 - with a dusting of Aussie organic blue clay to help those with problematic/oily skin

White Witch - left alone, completely neutral white

Lagoon - with a sprinkle of Aussie organic olive clay to draw out impurities & tighten pores

Herbaceous - left alone. Nothing added

Elijah's Comfort - with Aussie organic pastel pink clay to hydrate, firm & tone (love the word pastel).

To be in with a chance of trying a sample for FREE, sign up to the mailing list which is up above on a new page...along with the Shop, YouTube & Facebook pages.

We will also announce the arrival of the new scrubs via our newsletter...which may include an introductory offer if I feel nice enough!

Lavenders Black

2010-11-16T12:18:00.000Z

The newest latest to hit the Black Bell Alley dept. of the website is Lavenders Black handmade soap.

Inspired by dark back alleys and underground pubs and inns.

Mysterious, dark-eyed men in top hats and tailcoats and shiny boots of leather!

Dark velvet drapes concealing a web of sin within.

An all natural scent created with lashings of Lavender, a lick of vetiver, a splash of juniper and spiked with spicy black pepper.

Something about the scent reminded me of 'Ooh La La' by Lush. A scent which I really like actually....the bubble bar in that scent is so good.

The soap is hard, lathers really well and leaves a nice subtle scent behind. One which is especially good for men so a perfect stocking filler for your spouse or nephew or brother or son or grandpa...anybody!

Or...for ladies who like a bit of masculinity in their scent should try this too.

I think we may bring out a perfume oil in this as well as grains & scrubs.

671 Lincoln Blvd....

2010-11-04T21:18:00.000Z

Cut 6oz bars of the Christmas soap some of you saw a few posts ago. I seem to be writing so many posts lately I can barely keep up with meself!
This ere soap smells like a proper cold Christmas morning. There are hints of Spruce and frosted berries with a hot pine finish. I adore it. I usually tire of fragrances but this one is something special. It's a blend of a few different f.o's, which have all complimented one another.

Notice how the swirl worked in this bit? I did a you tube video where I spoke of the funnelling I wanted to do but the soap moved quickly so I just couldn't do it. It would have been amazing! Maybe next year...
I did manage a couple and the pattern in this looks like strands of wool to me. The majority of the soap bars come with a plain white base however...with swirls of green, red & white with a dusting of 2 glitters. HOooo HOoooo!

Here he is in his packaging. A nice deep red with deep khaki green banding and random snowflakes.
The name...c'mon now...surely you know this one?

Pirates Range....on SALE

2010-11-01T14:09:00.000Z

Pirates - the soap

Pirates 3 salt bathing grains

Pirates scrub and below the perfume oil.

If you fancy bagging a bargain head on over to the shop to the Black Bell Alley dept. or our Etsy

sale area to buy up some discontinued stock.

I've also done a You Tube video to explain why it won't be a permanent fellow in the FP line-up.

Most folks love this scent but it's just not for me and I don't agree with stocking something I'm not overly keen on myself.

Pirates is a fresh grass & beach breeze scent blended with Cedarwood, which gives it high notes of an oceanic aroma with dark undertones of wood.

Sounds nice, is nice, but not for me nice!

There will be some freebies for anybody who purchases the whole range.

I will throw in some of the more 'choice' samples so get yer skates on and have a little shop if you so desire.

Thanks!

Introducing....Elements Wellness Boutique

2010-10-29T11:11:00.001+01:00

I recently took an order for products from a brand spanking new beauty boutique in New Jersey, USA.
Their salon has only just opened...with a range of FuturePrimitive Soap products at front of shop.
I'm so grateful to Sonya for choosing our products and sincerely hope all their visiting customers like them too.
There is a Facebook group you can join at the moment, which is here so please give it a thumbs up/like.
Are any of the readers of this blog in the NJ area?
If so...you may be close enough to pay 'em a visit.

Thanks again Sonya!
xx

Tiggy from FuturePrimitive at the Soap curing rack....again

2010-10-25T19:17:00.000+01:00

This is me talking to....erm....nobody...! lol.

enjoy peeeeeples

Midnight Marauder....

2010-10-24T20:56:00.001+01:00

New!

Midnight Marauder was named by my nephew Ethan who is 10.

Inspiration for this ere soap was good old Harry Potter....and Peter Pettigrew.

Sprinkles of brown sugar & dried orange peel are scattered in zig zag lines over the top.

Footsteps run across each soap.

The scent is a combo of warm spices with citrus and sugar.

Lots of essential oils blended with a few choice fragrances.

Made with molasses and dark brown un-refined cocoa butter with a bit of yellow oxide for the flashing.

I was going to incorporate some red to mimic the colours of Harry's preppy scarf but then decided to leave it and keep it looking darker...like something you may find in a shop in Diagon Alley.

Coming out for sale in a week or so. I'll keep you posted.

Hope you are all well.

Soap Packaging

2010-10-22T13:55:00.000+01:00

Something I struggled with for a good couple of years...soap packaging.

I toyed with brown kraft paper, with cello bags (no good as the soap sweats), with thick paper with my logo, with cloth, with muslin...so many things...

I haven't shown the packaging of my soaps for quite some time.

I think the last post I did on this subject included my soaps with the gardeners string tied around them.

I soon tired of that as it's so time consuming when packaging larger wholesale orders.

Finally I allowed myself to agree on these strips, which simply wrap over each soap and are secured at the base.

All relevant info is on each strip.

I like the packaging colours to compliment what is inside.

The paper I have also allows the buyer to see the beauty inside too. Not see - through but near as damn it.

I know a lot of people struggle with packaging so please know that I have too.

I love a simple cigar band myself but when stocking in retail shops I think it's better to have the soaps wrapped.

I must say that Jaq from Soaphora has the most exquisite packaging.

Click here to see her Etsy...it's wonderful soap too!

I've been working hard on new strips for some of the new soaps I have made over the past few weeks. All will be revealed soon...the run up to xmas is just around the corner. I have 3 new soaps to show you very soon....

....it's coming....

2010-10-14T17:22:00.001+01:00

A very sneaky peek. New Christmas soap as yet un-named.
This is just a little preview....the rest will come once it's ready.
The cut comes tomorrow. I hope it will be alright since it set up pretty damn quick.
Time will tell....

One Ring....is ready and available

2010-10-11T10:12:00.000+01:00

One of the nicest, most earthy soaps I ever made.

It's ready.

Come see x

Shores of Fiji...a proper introduction

2010-10-06T09:57:00.001+01:00

The perfume in a 5ml apothecary bottle

The Shea Butter Sugar Scrub - 200g jar.

The Bathing Grains in a 250g ziplock bag.

Shores of Fiji was created a little while back and kinda took a backseat whilst all the products for Halloween were introduced.
Now as my mind rests before I tackle Xmas production, I find myself in need of a holiday.
I'm not going to get one....
The next best thing for any beauty product junkie (like my good self) is a good long soak in the bath and a good ol' dream of lounging about in the South Pacific.
So....what have I been reaching for?
Yep...my own product...my own little holiday in a jar/brown bag/bottle.
My own island paradise without the cost of the air fare.
The scent is wonderful. It's not a mix of essential oils, it's a heavenly blend of fragrant oils.
The top notes are sun-ripened Mango with a faint hint of pineapple and sugar which then blends into a creamy toasted coconut base.
How could I have neglected this???!
It's super good.
Last night I sprinkled some grains into my bath and lay back in the tropical - scented waters for a while before scooping out a generous amount of the sugar scrub. The scrub texture is like a really thick cookie dough. It's not sloppy, it's firm in the jar due to all the organic Shea butter I've lashed into it. It works a treat on knees and upper arms and of course the backside area.. ; )
It leaves the skin super soft without the need to use a separate moisturiser afterwards, which is great for people like me who can't be arsed to mess about after I dry off. I just want soft skin without putting an hour's worth of effort into it.
The scent from the scrub lingered a good long while too, which is a bonus.
After I'd made these 2 products I set about making a perfume oil to match.
I did it!
I like to layer my products so I get a good hit of the scent yanno?
So from Bathing Grains to Sugar Scrub to perfume....I'm all set for my little fantasy.
Blue skies with a few whispy clouds, hot sun, the scent of limes on a sea breeze, a cool glass of margharita in one hand and a plate full of lobster in the other...it can be achieved..with a little bit of imagination...and with this little range of SHORES OF FIJI
PS: there is no soap in this range....should I make one?!

Samples...oh and Facebook!

2010-10-05T13:26:00.000+01:00

Click the pic to 'like' our page.
Yep...I jumped on the bandwagon....
I said I wouldn't bother with a Facebook page but my friends have taken to it like ducks to water...so it worked out ok.
If you want to like us...you can now!

We now have sample sizes of our perfume oils and our Shea Butter Sugar Scrubs

The perfumes are now available in 1ml drachm vials.

The scrubs are available as half size (100g) pots.

It's good if you can try a smidge of a product to see if you like it when you're buying online I think....and most other sellers do this so I've joined the gang.

More perfumes to come shortly.

Pen and paper is out and scribbles are running over the page!

Ideas Ideas...loving this!

To try your potions...click here

2 New Soaps...and soap size news

2010-10-01T10:33:00.000+01:00

it doesn't come with the fancy feathers! I had a play about!

Hi all
2 more new handmade soaps are now in the line up at FuturePrimitive Soap dot com.
In addition to our recent 'One Ring' soap, we now have:

Inches Lane - a soap inspired by my Grandma and Grandpa and the lane on which they used to live...and where I lived with my Mum for years. This was the bestest and most beautiful home. Not a big house....but a good old fashioned victorian house with wonderful features (a larder, an open fire, 2 living rooms, a lovely long back garden full of flowers and the most beautiful south-facing view). I've always said that if that house ever came back on the market I would buy it if I could afford it....dreams, dreams...
The aroma coming off this soap is very much like my Grammy's old medicine cabinet. The cabinet had a chicken wire front and was painted green...and inside were all manner of medicine's - like Vicks Vapo Rub, Bandages, Plasters, Germolene...yanno..the usual Grandma medicine cabinet. Something for all ailments.
A blend of Rosemary, Pine, Eucalyptus with Patchouli (a smidge) and Citrus.
It contains poppy seeds to lightly scrub and the colour is like my old school uniform. White with droplets of navy blue (made with charcoal and real Lapis Lazuli - not ultramarine, which is the chemical synthetic version).
Love this soap.

Next up is the long awaited 'Rook and Raven'. This is a blend of Sicilian Orange and Black Patchouli with a drydown of Sandalwood & Vanilla.
Honest to GOD the scent of this is absolutely stunning. I have brought it out for Halloween, but I've a feeling it may stick around longer.
I am hooked...totally. I have to keep sniffing it as I walk past the curing room. I have been wearing the perfume for a couple of weeks and I love it.
Such a warm, cosy, winter scent.
This again contains activated charcoal, lapis lazuli but this time is mixed with deep purple ultramarine. Matt loves this! It does look very dark and mysterious.
Both new soaps will be available mid October...keep 'em peeled!

Now for some news...
Our soaps have gotten smaller! Don't all gasp...!
This will make them more accessible to all from a postage cost perspective.
We have a lot of customers in the states and across the globe who love our products but don't love the postage costs.
As you know our soaps are a rather large 6oz, which is 2oz larger than your average bar.
They are lovely and chunky and we love them but we have concluded that in order for them to be available to all with a low postage cost they need to be smaller.
So...the mail order soap will now be 4oz in weight. They still look amazing and will not change in any other way.
The postage to the US has now dropped from a whopping $6.50 to just $4 per bar (or thereabouts...depending on the daily exchange rate).
The price of the bars has also dropped by £1. All are now £3.50 per bar!
This price will probably have to rise on some of the limited edition soaps but for now the price stands, which should help with those xmas purchases.
We hope you understand our decision..
The soaps avaialble in the shops will still stand at 6oz..apart from in the states where they are 4oz anyway.
Overall conclusion is that everybody can now enjoy our soaps for a much more reasonable price, which means you can buy more at once!
Can't be bad can it.

Fanfare...for Product Body!

2010-09-29T15:25:00.000+01:00

Ruby Rock Star Soap

Crush On You Shea Scrubby Wash (Sexy Laundry Day)

Mazu Perfume Oil

Yes Yes Yes...a very very long overdue blog post.
A while back (a long while!) Jo Jo sent me some proddy.
Just as the recession hit, we'd been having a few email convo's and twitter DM's about the sorry state of the economy all over the world and how we were suffering with it all...I won't elaborate...but just know that it has certainly hit us hard.
Anyways, Jo had already blogged my soap - bless her, and generated a few sales for me, which was super duper cool and I wanted so badly to try her Crush On You scrub. I'd read reviews, I'd seen blogs about it and comments on Sexy Laundry Day - the scent.
There is nothing like reading about a product to create the want inside us is there!
Jo does it for everybody...so it's only right that somebody reviews her awesome products as a kind of pay it forward thingy.
Jo had promised me some goodies and one day they arrived all wrapped so beautifully it was a shame to open them...but I HAD to!
I didn't use the products for a long time. I had lots on the go and didn't want to use them all together. I had sniffed them of course and I love love loved the scents of all 3 of these products so much.
The soap was to die for. Now...you will find this odd....
When I smelled the soap I was reminded of Roseanne's house. Yep, I mean the Roseanne TV show house. WTF? I have no idea. All I know is I watched that show religiously and taped every single one every week when they were on Ch4 at 10pm on a Friday night.
Something about that show made me feel so homely and of course it cracked me up. Such a funny show. Loved it so much.
Living in England is weird. Anything that was coming out of the USA came here like 6 months later and all us kids wanted to have an American accent. We wanted houses like in the movies and families like theirs. We wanted their food and their sweets along with their cars and general household goods...well I did! ...so when I sniffed at the soap it gave me the same feeling I had when I watched that show. Make sense? Thought not!
The smell of the soap is so fresh but has a scent in it I've never smelled before...kind of foreign...kind of American...yes American! Me likey.
I waited for about 3 months before cracking that soap open...and when I did I was not disappointed. It lathered well, it felt super soft to hold and cleaned me real good. I didn't want to use it all up..but thought I'll get another one some day...JO, DON'T STOP MAKING IT!
Once I'd opened the soap, the rest got opened too.

The scrub...OMFG! Amaze or what. Now the scent in this reminds me of The Body Shop Ananya perfume...do you get that in the states? It got discontinued here then brought back again. Such a warm, sweet, feminine aroma with a nuzzly snuggly finish. The scrub itself is fine and scrubs really well...especially on the behind! The fact that it washes at the same time gives it even more of a thumbs up from me. I even used it on my face and I sparkled!
That scrub is one of the best I've ever ever tried. Just fantastical. I still have a bit left as Jo sent me a large tub. I use it about once every few days. You have to try this if you haven't already.

Now then...onto this perfume, Mazu.
She's only gone and done it hasn't she?! ADDICT!
This smells incredible. I've tried a few perfume oils of late including my own!...and this is one of my top 3 for sure. To me it smells caramelly, sweet, dark and totally addictive. when I first put it on Matt could smell me all around the house. We then went out for a walk and the scent just seemed to follow me! LOL. I love it. I am going to purchase some more as soon as I can...but I want the large bottle!
Jo states in her describtion the following:
Pronouned Mat-Zu.
Coconut milk, lemongrass, blackened vanilla, crushed Indonesian lime leaves, smokey clove, a whisper of Jasmine and a tiny hint of dark musk.
I mean...if that don't sell it to ya, what will?
With that my friends I leave you to go on a shopping frenzy at Product Body.
Jo's online shop is here
and her Etsy is here

2 new bundles...

2010-09-27T11:04:00.001+01:00

3 Seasons soap bundle

3 Lines soap bundle

Both now available here & here

Our bundles have always sold very well...so we're bringing them back bundle by bundle.

Once some of our new Autumn/Winter soaps are cured and ready, more bundles shall appear.

Love these pics...like a feast for the eyes!

Winners of the comp...

2010-09-25T08:12:00.000+01:00

Ok, this morning I used the random number picker thingy...here to pick the winners of the Generosity Chain thingamebob.

There are 5 winners.

1st winner is Kari Weaver Hopkins who came in with comment no. 12

2nd winner is Kristen who came in with comment no. 6

3rd winner is Cooking With Gas who came in with comment no. 5

4th winner is Ks196 - no link but a fellow Fresholi Forum hanger-outerer! comment no.11

5th winner is Joanna - who came in with comment no.24

Thank you all so much for entering.. I wish you could all have won something!
Now...will you all email me and send me your preferred shipping address so that over the course of the coming year I can send out your free stuff!
email: tiggy@futureprimitive.co.uk
Oh...and you 5...don't forget you gotta pay it forward...you have a year! I like the year idea!

Have a great weekend!
Tiggy
x

One Ring....

2010-09-24T07:51:00.001+01:00

The Woods on Bredon Hill, Worcs - the inspiration for a new soap.

'One Ring'

It may not look like much but there are 10 different fragrant components in this one along with freshly gathered moss and an incredibly rare incense.
The incense came from a little shop in Malvern, Worcs, which I visited last week - The Emerald Grove. The incense is called 'God's Smile' and has been made since 450AD. The first half is made by the monks in one monastery, the other by the monks of another monastery. Neither of the monks knows what the other puts in so it is a very well kept secret.
It is only available in this one shop in the UK and they're moving further away...well to Ledbury, which is one of the most beautiful towns so I shall go and see her...may even take her a chunk of this 'ere soap.
I had to put it into soap didn't I? Couldn't help myself!
Very oddly, I can detect the scent too...although I must admit the scent is wonderful when burning on a charcoal disc.
It smells just like an old church...in that good way. Very woodsy with a hint of spice and citrus top notes.
I have 5 different essential oils in here and 5 different fragrances. The scent however is very very subtle.
Every time I smell it I'm reminded of Lord of The Rings so the name just stuck as 'One Ring' and is inspired by this:

One Ring to rule them all
One Ring to find them
One Ring to bring them all
And in the darkness bind them

The moss on the top made me think of the 'fellowship' so there we have it.
A Tolkien inspired soap.

A Most Treasured Barn...and a competition

2010-09-21T12:24:00.000+01:00

The little barn - by Tracey Broome

The pendant...people beam in on it whenever I wear it.

My two treasured barns.

Ok...so this post is a long time overdue.

Back in July I entered a comp on Tracey Broome's blog to win a random item.

Whaddya know, I only went and bloody won!

When I saw my name come up I was so over the moon it was hard to contain myself. WHATever it was I would receive was gonna be super good.

Anyhooo....about a month or so later a package turns up in the mail, which I missed as I was working in Cheltenham that day.

The next day I go to the PO to pick up the parcel (thinking it was essential oils for soap) when to my surprise there was a sticker on the front saying it was from T Broome.

Oh man...you know what I did? I opened the box up whilst sitting in my car in the high street and the first thing I pull out is a very well wrapped item...little too big for a little something something!

I could NOT believe it. A beautiful, most humble little barn in the most exquisite colour you can imagine (my favourite colour of all...you've only gotta check out my soap to know this!)....a duck egg blue barn!

I unwrapped him and held him tight and the tears just rolled! I know...bloomin' cry baby or what...but you really don't know how much this meant to me.

I am an avid reader of Tracey's blog and when I'm not up to my neck in work I leave her comments (I know I should leave more) to let her know I'm about. And...these barns have had me hooked on her blog for weeks and weeks. They are absolutely amazing and I've wanted one since I saw them. NOBODY is making anything like these, they are completely unique...I only hope it stays that way.

I held that little barn to my chest and said 'YES!' with the most amount of joy I could muster.

Then...out pops a little pendant shaped like a barn and in the same colour. Oh man, I couldn't have wished for a better pressie. I put the pendant around my neck straight away and wore it all day...proudly showing everybody.

I felt truly blessed that day. I really really did.

Tracey...thank you with all my might...thank you!

The little barn hangs over our television at the moment (i know how crap) but will find a proud spot as soon as Matt has moved into his workshop and I regain my house and space! At least hanging over the TV I get to look at it rather a lot!

So...there you have it....

Now for some more excitement....

Wanna win some stuff from me? Here's your chance.

I agreed to do this when I entered Tracey's blog so here goes:

This is called the Generosity Train, which Tracey found here and which I am now to pass on.

Here's the deal...

Please leave me a comment here on this post to be entered into the competition.

The posting will be open until Saturday morning (GMT - London) when I will put all the names into a bowl, shuffle them up a bit then announce the winners.

I will get Matt to pick the names out and read them out to me so there is no chance of me knowing who it will be!

There will be 5 (yes 5) winners in total so you stand more of a chance here!

I then have up to 1 year to post out a random gift to each person.

Your gift could turn up at any time over the course of the next year.

How cool is that?!

Good luck..!

White Witch....

2010-09-19T11:51:00.000+01:00

White Witch Perfume Oil - a bewitching brew of Black aged Indonesian Patchouli & Bourbon Geranium with a sprinkling of Patchouli Leaf and a nugget of Devils Claw Root Bark in every bottle.
It smells just as the soap does...only a tad stronger of course.

White Witch 3 Salt Bathing Grains - again the same beautiful blend.

White Witch Shea Butter Sugar Scrub made with 2 types of Fair Trade pure cane sugar, lashings of Organic Shea and again the White Witch essential oil blend.
On the top is a dusting of dried Patchouli leaf.

I've so enjoyed making all these ghoulish treats for Halloween and really hope they do well at the next Vintage Fair I've applied for on Oct. 30th.
My favourite out of the 3 is for certain 'Rook and Raven' with White Witch coming in a close second.
Pirates is a dreamy blend, which I love but after making the products found that I'd smelled it too much...yanno how blends do that to you sometimes...you know they're good when you're making them then all of a sudden you go off them as fast as you liked them!?
Well...that's me all over.
It's only when I come back to something after time has passed that I realise how good they were in the first place.
Thing with me is I start something, complete it then I immediately want to move on...which is what is happening.
Now my mind is contemplating late Autumn blends and the beginning of the Christmas countdown.
I'll be sick of Christmas when it finally arrives!

Pirates...

2010-09-17T21:20:00.000+01:00

Pirates Aromatic Perfume Oil.
Gusts of Oceanic winds billowing across High Seas.
Dark Cedarwood, Sandalwood & rare Musk smuggled amongst Marram Grass fresh from the dunes. An ozonic scent amplified with a grassy freshness and a lingering antiqued wood background....like the heart of an old tall ship.
Pure Mysore Sandalwood and North American Cedarwood chips are nestled inside each bottle.
Give it a shake to infuse the woods into the perfume a little more.

Pirates Shea Butter Sugar Scrub - with 2 types of Fair Trade Cane sugar, lashings of Organic Shea Butter, a dose of Vitamin E - rich sunflower oil and an Ozonic, grassy, woody scent.

Pirates '3 Salt Bathing Grains' - made with wonderfully relaxing Epsom salts, therapeutic Dead Sea salt and a fine Marine Salt with tumbled Organic Shea butter.

Pirates...the soap.
Included in the mix is an infusion of Oak bark and a big dollop of organic cocoa butter to harden it up a bit as well as to give our usual luxurious lather.
Peaks of Aussie Organic red clay, activated charcoal and yellow oxide.
With a scattering of 'Portholes'...or 'Canonballs'. You choose what they are!

There you have it, another new scent for the Halloween season. The soap is only just made so won't be available for a good few weeks. I will be sure to mention when it's ready though.
It smells super fresh. It has a good glug of Cedarwood essential oil inside it, which at the moment I cannot detect but am confident that once it mellows all the scents I've chosen will be detectable. It's very oceanic with a crispy freshness and an inner warmth.
Even though the same blend was used in all of these products, each one smells slightly different due to the raw ingredients used. The salts take on a different scent due to the un-refined shea butter, whilst the sugar scrubs smell more earthy and sweet.
A really nice range for autumn. One that smells kinda like summer! Lest we forget our summer...I don't think I want to let it go just yet.
The grains, scrubs and perfume will be available on Saturday 18th September (eek..that's tomorrow!). The soap will follow just in time for Halloween...well a few weeks before to give you time to stock up.

Introducing....'Rook & Raven'

2010-09-14T17:11:00.001+01:00

'Rook and Raven' Shea Butter Sugar Scrub.

Rook & Raven Perfume Oil - with real cardamon seeds and a black marabou stork feather in each bottle.

Rook & Raven Bathing Grains

Soon to be available on the website and Etsy.
Expected launch date will be this weekend. The soap is to come shortly....I'm waiting on some vital supplies so until they're here these 2 products will be available.
The scent is a dark, mystical blend of Sweet Sicilian Orange with a drydown of black Patchouli, Sandalwood & aged Vanilla.
It's quite sweet with woody undertones and totally stunning!
The Bathing Grains are made with our 3 salt base recipe (epsom, dead sea & fine marine) with tumbled Organic Shea Butter - and inside every bag is a cheeky little black marabou stork feather.
The perfume comes in a dark amber 5ml bottle.
The Shea Scrub comes in a 200g pot with an aluminium lid.
Soon to be available will be the much anticipated soap.

Also to come are other new products, which go by the names of:
'Shores of Fiji' & 'Pirates'.....

'Shores of Fiji' is a tropical paradise blend of dry but creamy coconut blended with lush ripe juicy mangoes. I love this one...and so do the people who recently purchased it at my last Vintage Fair. This will be available as soap, grains & scrub...and maybe perfume if it's liked enough.

'Pirates' is a blend of Oceanic winds tempered with fresh cut Marram grass, Sandalwood, Musk & Cedarwood. Quite a fresh scent inspired by the High Seas and Swashbuckling nutcases.
Again, will be available as soap, grains & scrub.
I will be back with more news as these new products take on their new lives.

Etsy vs Us

2010-09-07T13:33:00.000+01:00

It's been a big question over my little head for a while.

Do our customers prefer to shop Etsy or get a little more personal and shop via our website?

I know what I prefer...

I love Etsy, I really do, but the costs involved can be a little much.

Sure, it's not much to list items but it does cost none the less.

I am an Etsy shopper, I love to browse and find things but as of late I've found businesses via Etsy then have found that they also have their own website.

I prefer a more personal shop. I like to browse the pages of a website to get more of a 'feel' of what that company is about. I also want to see pictures of the owners/owner.

I think that when you are making something by hand and putting it up for sale most customers want to see YOU..the person.

ANYBODY can list on Etsy can't they? Anybody!

So...when I find a really lovely website with really lovely things I am more inclined to buy from there if it makes me feel like I'm getting to know the people behind it all.

There are literally billions of us in the world and I want to at least try to get to know a few more people than I already do, and if I can do that by purchasing something from them then all the better for all concerned.

Which brings me to my own website. I've worked so hard on producing something of interest. I change colours, I change pages and I add lots of pics to make it more 'poppy'. This is something Etsy can't do for us artisans.

I've recently added new pages with even more info about what it is that we do here in the middle of England.

I've added a page called 'Handmade Soap' to give everybody more of an idea about what goes into making handmade soap.

I've added a page called 'Natural Soap' to show some of the rawness, which goes into every batch of soap.

I've also added a page called 'Fair Trade Soap' to show how we try to always source fairly traded, sustainable raw ingredients.

Again...you can't do this on Etsy as you only have 1 page.

What use is 1 page?!

So...what I'm saying is please do come visit http://www.futureprimitivesoap.com/ and grab some goodies from us over there sometime. The postage costs are the same (the absolute minimum we can go to), we ship worldwide and there are many more interesting things to read about other than....'THIS IS ME AND THIS IS MY SHOP'!

Blow Out Sale

2010-08-30T16:20:00.000+01:00

Lancaster soap

Harvest Moon soap

Cyclone soap

Arabica Kitchen Soap

Lemonade Lounger Soap

Hi kids.

Due to me running out of space in my curing room I am putting out this one time offer for soaps, which will be discontinued for the time being (some will be back for spring/summer 2011).

The discontinued soaps are pictured above and if you click 'em you will end up on the corresponding shop page.

All are now £3!

The new range for Autumn and Halloween is due for release within the next 4-5 weeks.

I will keep you posted of course with the newbies.

The crackle of autumn

2010-08-20T14:34:00.001+01:00

A cotswold wood

It's coming...no doubt about that.
So....what do us soapers do now huh? Well....our cauldron's are at the ready and we shall be concocting all manner of autumnal scents to suit the falling of leaves and the run up to Halloween.
I have just ordered a shed load of autumn fragrance samples, which will be narrowed down once I've tried and tested my favourites.
You know I don't usually combine any scents other than pure essential oils, but lately I have found so many new and exciting fragrances that I HAVE to share them with you.
I shall be making combo's of fragrances mixed with absolutes and essential oils as well as some resionous material too.
I can't wait to decoct this stuff! Our kitchen will smell proper good.
I am being very selective with my pickings.
I have been making notes for new product names too and have come up with some corkers!
Some of the fragrances I shall be using will include honey, leather, incense, plum, amber, sandalwood, oakmoss along with nutmeg, coconut, cinnamon, leaves & figs. A little later will come scents such as mulled wine, black spruce, berries & winter warmers.
Combining these will be fun and I shall keep you all updated with all the new stuff, which will be landing in our Etsy & Big Cartel shops soon.

Keep 'em peeled...

Have I tempted you?

Fertility Flower - sign up!

2010-08-18T16:26:00.000+01:00

Hi all,

You may have read my post a short while back about a collaboration I have going with Fertility Flower.
The lovely Kimberly was a customer of mine, who purchased my soap via Etsy. She loved it so much that she asked me to provide 500 sample packs of soaps for the 1st 500 people to sign up to her website.
Yeah...3000 soap slivers...can you imagine my curing room?!
I'm so grateful for this golden opportunity and sincerely hope the receivers of my soap will love them as much as I love to make them.

A little bit more info:
Fertility Flower enables you to track your fertility online.
To find out all about it, click here to be directed to the 'about' page.
There's an awful lot to get involved in and I'm sure the website will create a thriving little community.
Kimberly writes a blog, which is attached to the website...or click here to read it.
She also has a twitter account - click here
And a Facebook group - click here
Busy lady huh?!
I'm sure many of you will find this website an invaluable source - especially if you are trying to become pregnant or the complete opposite!
The online tracking facility is fabulous.

Please head on over to see what it's all about....oh and check my banner at the top of the page!
Awesomeness!

xx

Shea Butter Sugar Scrubs...they're here.

2010-08-06T12:06:00.000+01:00

Buttered Peaks

White Witch

Cadfael's Garden

No.11

Festival

Harvest Moon

They're finally here.

A few tweaks here and there and I'm happy.

They consist of a heavy helping of pure Cane Sugars, organic Shea butter (a massive dose) and a cleansing agent (ecocert), which is naturally derived.

They work well. They leave absolutely no greasy afterfeel.

When wet, they turn into a milky consistency. You scrub up your bod, and the sugar disolves away leaving you with incredibly soft skin.

Now available in our Etsy shop.

My favourite so far is Harvest Moon.

Smells i n c r e d i b l e !!

Inspiration...don't let it get the better of you.

2010-08-04T12:04:00.000+01:00

"Something I'd like to point out is how important it is for any artist, designer, photographer, writer to find our own voice, our own way of doing things, to find ourselves in our work. It is difficult to focus on what we want to do when out there is a vast ocean of inspiration, and I enjoy watching other artists' work too, but I think it is very important to stop looking outside and start searching inside when it comes to creating our work. I believe this is priority, it's a way of respecting others as well as respecting ourselves."

I have taken this excerpt from Tracy Broome's blog, which I love to read daily. Her blog is full of 'the good stuff' and her creations amaze me. Her writing is thought provoking and it makes me feel homely. Check her out and link her up....oh and look at the barns she makes!

This post spoke to me and so I'm giving a heads up to all of you who read my blog.

Take Stock. Take a moment. Look within. Find your own way. Be proud of your own work.

Some set themselves apart, some don't.
The ones that do speak volumes to me and I thank you for it.

'Blood On The Moon' - the new Humbug!

2010-07-27T07:49:00.000+01:00

A close up - Blood on the Moon handmade soap!

'Blood on the Moon' - sitting schweeetly on a Dylan Bowen slipware plate

'Blood on the Moon' logs.

Humbug has been re-vamped!
I made a dud batch a little while ago. I had used a red clay around the 'moons', which when wet made a bit of a mess...but it came off the soap like blood, which was pretty cool.
I had the new name for Humbug...but knew the red clay was a no no really...just a bit too messy for my liking.
So....back to the drawing board.
I have added a few more balls to the equation and the scent has been tweaked.
Instead of adding Marjoram (which was great for strengthening the mint) I have chosen Lavender. I no longer add Madagascan Vanilla...as I found it too sweet.
This needs to be spicy but with an air about it.
So...we have aloof Peppermint, spicy Spearmint and airy Lavender (officinalis - not angustifolia).
It has the scent I wanted originally!
I also added more white than black...well equal amounts, rather than 3/4's black, 1/4 white.
I think the contrast is great.
And...the soap on the Dylan Bowen plate looks awesome!

...walk with me

2010-07-22T10:11:00.000+01:00

...come this way

....take a sneaky peek

....do you see the King's men?

....there's a lot of them. You can never ever count them...ever. It's impossible.

....the backside view...with the Oxfordshire countryside in the distance

....The Whispering Knights

....look into the centre...you will see everybody's wishes cast with a penny

....The King

....blow this up and have a read...it will save me telling you!

....blow this up too...there are wishes tied onto this tree

The Rollright Stones.....just a 20 mile drive from our house.

Matt and I took a trip up the other day for a bit of a 'get away'.

We're not having the easiest time of it at the moment, so we needed some kind of release.

I took a pocket full of coins, and drove up to this stone circle.

We made our wishes and had a really lovely stroll around.

This place is surrounded with myth and folklore. It has a very special feeling surrounding it. It feels warm, homely, safe and calm. People come to the king's men stones to sit and ponder, to cast spells or to make a wish. Around the 'whispering knights' are many people's wishes and spells cast into the centre with all manner of divination paraphernalia.

Across the road is the King Stone.

He stands alone looking over the other side of the valley towards the Vale of Evesham.

At Samhain you will not usually be allowed to enter. There are secret ceremonies almost annually....I shan't tell you what I've seen in the past. Some of it isn't very nice, but it sure is interesting and intriguing to say the least.

On 'our' day, the sky was blue with whispy clouds, a cool breeze with a hot sun.

It was a perfect day.

For those who wish to learn more about The Rollright Stones, click here to see the website.

Indian Summer Collection

2010-07-18T18:19:00.001+01:00

White Witch bathing grains - a sumptuous blend of Bourbon Geranium & black Indonesian Patchouli. The perfect balance between light and dark.
Use alongside our White Witch soap for maximum benefits.

Elijah's Comfort bathing grains - Sweet Orange & Sicilian Lemon blended with Bourbon Geranium & Ylang Ylang - with fine rose petals

Cadfael's Garden - a fragrant blend of sweet dewy grass with freshly cut flowers - inspired by Cadfael - the fictional medieval sleuth and herbalist.

Festival bathing grains - a smokey blend of Nag Champa incense & black Patchouli. OMG! Amaze! - To go with our new 'Festival' soap, which is also now available to buy from our website or from Etsy.

I have been ultra busy.
Now available in our Etsy shop and our website is the new collection of bathing grains.
I've been working on these and tweaking the results for the past 2 months and have finally got the mix and the fragrant blends how they should be.
They form part of the Indian Summer collection, which is our new late summer bathing range.
The salts were made to compliment the soap, and will be followed by sugar scrubs and body butters.
Enjoy!

The Cut & The Dream

2010-07-04T15:45:00.000+01:00

A row of lovlies.

deep funnelling

Lines & Whisps

Peaks of goodness on my No.11 Signature soap

Freshly cut No. 11

corn rows

expansive sky

a spooky eeriness in here - which i love

wasted

the new home of FuturePrimitive Soap (notice the blog post title!)

nothin' a lick o' paint can't solve

bit shallow but it'll be good for dipping our toes into

making its way to the wheel

which incidentally must've stopped years ago. look at the moss, isn't it wonderful

These pics sum up our weekend.

Cut pics of yesterday's Lancaster soap.

A very long walk into a very pretty place.

I have dreams for this place....anybody got a spare £2million?

Matt wants a pottery - but he'll have to make do with the big 'ol empty barn (s'got lectric!)

I want a soap workshop and a little open store for passers by - the waft of soap up the old path will be enough to entice them in for a cuppa and a bar or two of my finest!

Oh....and I also want a goat or 3. I don't know why but they seem to like me...and I them.

I don't want much more, honest.

'Lancaster' - a sneaky peak

2010-07-03T12:20:00.000+01:00

I have a Vintage Fair to attend, which is hosted by the WAVEteam - a bunch of fashionista's from Worcester (Worcester Arts & Vintage Events).

It's not easy to 'get into' these events so imagine how thrilled I was at being accepted.

I had written to the girls to apply and had given some ideas I had rolling around my head for some 40's inspired soaps for the days event. The fair is a tribute to the 1940's and will include tunes from the war years, along with homemade lemonade and cupcakes as well as vintage clothing stands.

So anyway, about 2 weeks later I got an email saying my application was successful.

Today I set to work on my first creation.

I already had the name and the stylin' of the soap all sorted.

It came together in a flash.

I wanted the styling of a Lancaster bomber with a deep but fresh scent - one a little like the smell of old army & navy (and I guess RAF) clothes!

I have used Sweet Orange, Spike Lavender with black Patchouli.

It smells exactly as I wanted it to.

As you can see I have used the funnel technique....something I've not done for about 3 years.

I get scared! You know how thin a trace you need to achieve this right?

Well...I chose oils I know don't accelerate and reached a thin trace and started the pour.

Happy...yes I am! Though..it does look a little like the rings of Saturn!

Cut picks shall be coming up tomorrow.

Pre Orders

2010-07-02T16:59:00.001+01:00

Hello

Crazy as it is, I am now taking pre-orders in my Etsy for Festival Soap.
I have been inundated with emails from folks asking me to save one for them, so I thought 'Ah, what the hell...let's stick 'em on Etsy and let 'em at 'em'.

So, if you want to secure your incense soap, go for it here

Love me x

Introducing...'Festival'

2010-06-28T22:02:00.000+01:00

A brand new soap.

A heady waft of incense.
Smokey sweet Nag Champa blended with a spattering of Indonesian Patchouli.

Swirls of deep green, mahogany & gold on a base of dead sea mud.
Buttered up with a hefty dose of un-refined organic shea butter.

Inspired by the road to Glastonbury Festival, the Summer Solstice, Stonehenge & the magikal mood of England in summertime.

Colours inspired by Barrel Top gypsy caravans.

....one disaster too many

2010-06-21T07:43:00.000+01:00

I've had the most disastrous month of soapmaking. Serious.
Overall, I've lost 5 batches due to seizing, oils sitting on the top of batches, crazy chemical reactions and scent loss (F.O's).
Not good.
First up, I was to make a coconut scented soap with mini coconut balls inside it. I wanted a really nice infusion for this so I used real Mysore Sandalwood, Galangal, Patchouli leaf & Oak Bark. I placed these ingredients into my lye and left them to infuse before straining through muslin. The smell was really good too...even in lye.
I made my soap base, cooled both mixtures to my usual temp. Soaped. Added my fragrance oil (coconut) with some patchouli oil & orange oil and BAM. NO GOOD. The mixture curdled, seized, riced. All of it in one hit. Into the black bin liner it went.
Second up was another attempt with a coconut fragrance from another supply. Same infusion again. This time, soaped beautifully. Even the woody scent from my infusion was in the background...but no scent of coconut whatsoever. Fail. Into the black bin liner.
Now I could've re-batched and Sharon from Morgan Street DM'd me on Twitter with instructions. It would've been a simple task, but you know when you're so mad at yourself and at the damn supplier of the seizing/non smelling oils that you just can't even look at the sorry mess you made....well, that was me.
Next up was a mango soap, which I wanted for a quick summer line. Again, no scent, seizing and another load of £££'s down the drain.
3rd batch fail.
Next failures were this weekend.
I have made 'Sandal Scandal' soap just once before and I brought it to the line as a summer soap treat for your feet. The first time I made it, it came out perfect. No issues at all.
No fragrance oils, just Tea Tree, Lemon & Clary Sage oils with a pumice/oatmeal base and an organic shea topping.
This time, it just went plain wrong. I really don't know what to blame here. It was certainly one of the oils. The 1st batch I made this weekend contained essential oils from a different supplier. When I added the lemon oil to the blend, the mixture went cloudy. The oils smelled like my usual essential oils...some differences but nothing too noticeable.
Well....this seized like you've never seen before! In the pot. Like a rigid soldier.
Bin liner!
I attempted the mixture again (Matt said 'bit risky isn't it?...but I ignored him!).
Again, seize! But I did manage to get it into the mold. Then yesterday when I unmolded it, ouch ouch ouch. Caustic nightmare. I only touched it with my hand when unmolding and my hands were stinging! WTF?
So...that went into yet another bin liner.
The 1st one I salvaged and made into balls for other soaps so all was not lost.

ONE LAST TRY was a batch of the newly named Geranium & Patchouli (the white one with the line).
This went absolutely perfectly. Beautiful flowing soap.
Its new name is 'White Witch'.

After all that, I could use a good witch to come to my house and wave a magic wand.

Etsy Treasury East...I'm just coolin'

2010-06-18T10:49:00.000+01:00

A little snippet of goodness from me to you.

I'm just Coolin....A treasury by FuturePrimitive

no olive oil - but a bodygoodies haul & biscuits

2010-06-14T20:24:00.000+01:00

the bodygoodies haul.

lemon creams....mmmm

curing rack....needs filling up!

sample packs ready for sending to the first 500 lucky girls to register at http://www.fertilityflower.com/ website goes live soon, so be sure to sign up to be in with a chance of receiving one of these lovlies.

bum.

i hate running out of stuff. i ran out of olive oil last week and have to wait til tomorrow before I can go buy some more from my supplier (sounds like drug dealing). i work in cheltenham on a tuesday, wednesday and thursday so i have to wait to get hold of it.

so.....i made lemon creams instead! don't they look cute? well they did look cute...but we kinda ate em all.

onto more goodies..... bodygoodies in fact. me ol mucker Heidi Goldberg sent me a haul. my oh my oh my. what a haul it is. yanno when you make soap, you kinda think yours is great but you always admire the soaping skills of others ( i know you all do )? well, these are some serious skills.... skincare skills at that.

each of the soaps i received are packed full of amazingly good organic ingredients; are scented with pure essential oils & contain proper doses of the good stuff (butters, muds, salts etc).

i started out with Fij, which contains moor mud & green clay, with essential oils of spearmint & patchouli. a really good blend too. just an hour ago matt and I were walking by the river when i copped a whaft of patchouli. i asked what he'd been using...turns out he'd shaved his face with Heidi's Fij soap. i could smell it! crazy!

i have 4 more soaps to use yet. i have stashed them so i keep forgetting but i keep catching a glimpse of the box they came in...and i smile lightly to myself.

i have had countless items through the post lately, so there will be more posts just like this one as i get through the amount of stuff i have to use. i've had beautiful items from SV Soaps, Soaphoara, Jo @ The Soap Bar, SV Soaps, Haus of Gloi.... crikey the list is endless! i started making soap to satisfy my product cravings....but now they've somehow worsened!

anyhoo...hope you like the pics.

as you can see, i've been busy wrapping up my large soap order....!

hope you are all well x

no internet = production

2010-06-03T22:19:00.000+01:00

New look 'The orangery'. Now with balls...and lots of 'em.

Full Frontal.

Cyclone. A lightning flash of a scent. Love this.

Allium 'Globemaster'

Clematis....can't remember which....anyone?

Podophyllum 'Spotty Dotty'

Aquilegia vulgaris 'Double Pale Blue'

Matteucia struthiopteris (the shuttlecock fern)

Arum 'Miss Janay Hall'

so...a few days offline reduced me to working hard and allowed me to notice the changes in my garden.

I've been busy soaping...and plant sales are going nuts this year so packing orders has taken up a hell of a lot of time, which is fabulous.

The pics of the stuff going on this week I hope say it all...because I'm knackered to be quite honest!

I'd not blogged for a while, and thought I'd best give you something to look at before you forget me.

So...herewith the new look 'The Orangery'. One of my very favourite soaps. It's a beautiful blend of Sweet Orange, Cedarwood, Ylang Ylang & Cardamom. It has unrefined shea butter in it, along with soap balls in orange and green and drizzles of green soap, which I then swirled between the balls on the top. It's then sprinkled with orange peel & cardamom seeds, which I depod myself...a painstaking task!

The results I'm happy with. The lattice I used to do on this soap was nice, but not interesting enough. I hope people like its new look. I think it looks ace.

That's about it for tonight. 10.45pm and me eyes is closin'.

3000 pieces of soap for Fertility Flower

2010-05-21T12:35:00.000+01:00

WOW! Yes! It is true!

A short time ago, a lovely lady by the name of Kimberley bought some of my soap via Etsy.
She came back as a repeat buyer. This was and still is a good sign.
Just a couple of months ago, Kimberley made contact with me via email to ask if I would like to work on project for her...
Kimberley is in the process of launching a brand new website called Fertility Flower

A little bit about Fertility Flower:
Fertility Flower is a natural parenting resource designed to help predict ovulation and increase chances of conception.
In addition to the fertility tools, there are forums, interviews with inspiring moms. Kimberley is even in the midst of writing an art journaling course with prompts centered on the trying-to-conceive journey.
The website is designed by Mark Wilson of PensandPencilsandPens.com who lives in Truro (Cornwall). Mark did the website for Bat for Lashes and has done work for Gorillaz. Snazzy!

Fertility Flower has been gathering up a nice little following on Facebook.
The members are generally women who are trying to become pregnant, are with young children or currently pregnant.
Fertility Flower is also tweeting www.twitter.com/fertilityflower
so go follow if you wish to keep up with daily issues etc.

The website is expected to launch in June so for now you will see the holding page, but the link to join the facebook group is there so go do that now if you please.

Now then...here's the juicy bit from me.
Once the website launches, visitors will be invited to become a member, which will enable the user to track their fertility online. What a fabulous idea!
I'm guessing there will be quite the community via this source, and urge any of you reading this to join if you are an expectant mother...or hoping to be.
There is a little treat in store for the first 500 visitors to sign up for membership...that little treat is a 6pack of sample soaps from FuturePrimitive! Woop!
In the pack are x6 2oz soap slivers, randomly chosen by me. I have been so busy packaging up the sample packs I've barely had time to think of much else!
Here's where the number on this post title came from...500 packs of 6 soap samples = 3000 pieces of soap. Can you imagine?! I have a little more work to do, but I'm almost there. I have created new soaps, which I hope will be keepers and I've tweaked other soaps to make them ever better. I want the 500 people to love them!
I am eternally thankful to Kimberley for taking the time to ask me and for having faith in my product. I love making soap as much as my customers tell me they enjoy using it. I have complete faith in what I make. I have a passion, which runs deep for making it. I hope this shows in my creations.
I hope the 1st 500 love them too!
I shall keep you informed of the launch here, so be sure to check in often.
Thank you for your ears!
Tiggy
x

PS: more pics to come...I've taken lots!

Sandal Scandal - a soap for summer tootsies

2010-05-06T07:40:00.000+01:00

Yanno when you have ideas for yet another soap flying round your head?

This is my most recent.

All I knew was it had to be scrubby on the bottom and shea butter soft on the top.

I also knew the EO blend. Sage, Tea Tree & Lemon.

I knew that pumice had to be in there somewhere....I also pondered over oatmeal.

That's it!

Simplistic, nothin too fancy.

Something for a specific purpose.

Of course, I think it looks pretty but I love the rustic feel it's got going on.

No added colours in the base, but there is a bit of TD in the top to bring out the creaminess I was after.

It smells herbal and fresh. Pefect for feet. It cut lovely and stamped nice too.

I haven't had this much fun making soap in a long while. I loved every bit of it.

What next?

Whipped Shea from Great Cakes Soapworks and a new soap...

2010-05-02T17:14:00.000+01:00

globules of thick sloppy soap

just about managed a bit of swirlin'

end product.

A little pot of absolute delight.

I dived right in!

I made this new soap last week. I was after making a vanilla explosion, so set about my soapmaking cupboard and found all the ingredients I had in mind. Vanilla pod, cocoa butter (the smelly stuff), essential oils reminiscent of true vanilla (a secret blend) and an infusion.

The end result is one I am so pleased with. The scent is unbelievable. I'm pretty proud of myself!

I included a boat load of the butter to make this soap extra special for the skin.

I used a smidge of white to stop it looking too plain.

I wanted a very natural look for it and I think it worked. I wanted better droplets inside the natural soap but left the mix to thicken for too long. Hey Ho.

It's name is 'Vanillas In The Mist'!

And now for something very very special indeed....

Myself and Amy Warden from Great Cakes Soapworks done did us a little swapsie!

I had been lusting over Amy's whipped shea for a long while before asking her if she'd ship some to me in the UK. She came back with a proposal too good to miss. She wanted to try some of my soap, so offered a swap. Yay!

I couldn't wait for the postman to turn up with it. When he did I was so excited I left the parcel unopenend for ages! I knew that once I'd opened it I wouldn't be able to stop myself sticking my fingers straight in. I was right!

I went and had a bath and looked longily at the little tub with a smile, knowing I could use it right after.

I took off the seal and poked my fingers in and immediately set to work on my legs.

A-M-A-Z-I-N-G.....

The pot I received was un-scented, meaning I could wear perfume after and not smell like the cosmetics section of the dept. store.

It sank right into my skin. It didn't feel in the least bit greasy. It felt nourishing, thick, sumptuous and delicious.

The difference to my skin was immense.

Amy, you cracked it! This stuff is incredible. I shall be after more once I'm out for sure.

If you want to go grab some for yourself, Amy's shop is here - check out the pics of the piped whipped shea in her pots! I love that.
and her blog is here

Back to where it all began...

2010-04-27T07:09:00.000+01:00

The first batch for sale...check out the cocoa line bleed.

How the logs came out after incorporating Palm Oil.

Again...with Palm Oil. Notice how the bars are a lot more dense.

Lord knows which batch number this one is.

A recent rustic batch.

Chunks.

I salute this soap. My soap journey began with it.

The Geranium Patchouli Slice was introduced to the range long after the first batch was produced.

My nephew Thomas said...'Make more of that white one with the patchouli in it'.

Ok, says I.

I would never have thought this would be the ultimate best seller, but less is more in so many cases here.

The look of the soap is simplistic. The scent is strong but subtle. It's floral and earthy as you would expect.

It feels ultra luxurious and lathers with a deep creamy consistency.

I'm writing this as for the first time in ages I have a chunk of it in my bathroom. I don't get too excited about my own soap so much anymore - not to say i don't enjoy my soap, but yanno.

However, I am actually looking forward to going for my bath. I even look forward to reaching over the bath to grab it just to wash my hands.

It's packed full of cocoa butter, so it has quite a hard bulky body. It's amazingly good on the skin, and it helps keep my eczema at bay. I've heard it helps a little with the itch of psoriasis too...from a customer.

In the shops who kindly sell my soaps this is always a best seller.

I even had Ben Miller (of Armstrong & Miller fame) buy 4 from me in one go at a local village fair I did last year. He took a whiff and said 'Oh my God...amazing!'.

My heart...warmed?....you betcha.

So...no sales pitch...just a reminder of one of the best and the people's favourite.

Thanks for reading.

The Water Gatherer

2010-04-16T07:38:00.000+01:00

Here is where I get my mineral water from for soapmaking.

The Malvern Hills, Worcs.

Pics to show you the fun me and my Mom had yesterday!

I think pictures speak a lot louder than words sometimes!!!

Graffiti - you may need shades

2010-04-11T19:11:00.000+01:00

So, here we have it! My Graffiti soap.

Bit of a nightmare actually, and not exactly what I had in mind.

In mind beforehand was a fuchsia pink base, the black line, a purple layer & black line, lime green layer & black line, and brilliant blue top.

What I got after using lab colours was: An insipid pale pink, a blue purple, lime (ok, I'm loving the lime) and a blue top with silver glitter.

It smells sweet. A combo of freshly baked bread & lemons....so like lemon bread, whatever that is.

I'm so not sure about this. Matt loved it. I'm a bit miffed that I didn't get the colours out of the lab colours. When I mixed the pink, the batter was BRIGHT PINK but this must've reacted during the insulation period and turned back to almost natural soap. The pink was on the very base still but that's all.

I keep picking a chunk up and looking at it with a quizzical grin. Hmmm, I'm not sure. Don't think I like it but that acid lime green kicks ass.

I need a name. A good name. I've been looking through some of our books at home. We have 'Subway Art', Banksy flip books, 'Spraycan Art'....I shall trawl through and find something apt.

I've been a lover of this 'criminal' art for years and years, so what better way than to put it into soap.

I leave it to you to decide what you think. Feel free to be frank in your comments.

This soap shall be on sale in my Etsy in about a month. I shall update you. It will be cheap!

me likey

2010-04-09T07:43:00.000+01:00

I trawl through Etsy a lot.
It's my favourite shop of choice (mostly). I've been doing some swaps and have bought a couple of items recently so thought I'd share 'em.

The lovely Sharon from Morgan Street sent me this little package after I'd mentioned how I wanted to try the Parma Violet soap on Twitter. She DM'd me and said I could 'have' a bar and that she'd throw in a lip balm too. Ain't that the sweetest thing! Love Sharon so much. She really cracks me up on the Twit. My mom loves her too.
Check out her Etsy quick cos she's about to have a re-arrange and is closing it for a short while.
I gotta tell ya, the soap is absolutely amazing. I have tried lots of soaps, but this is the first that has really made my skin feel ultra soft. Really good stuff.

A fragrace sampler by 'The Morbid The Merrier'.
These are wonderful. Little tiny bottles of potent perfumes made by Lysa. Lysa is ace. I love her hair, I love her makeup, I lover her shop style. The Carnival Freak Show thing she has going on just gets me every time. LOOK AT THE FONT! I know, sad ain't I...but I love this stuff.
If you want to revel in her delights, go to her shop here.

'Jungles of Brazil' by Skin Journey.
Upon first sniff, I thought of ripe tropical fruits, a smidge of mud and a droplet of green notes.
I re-apply this all day if I choose to wear it. I love it. It's a strong scent, but doesn't linger around forever. If my hair touches my neck, it smells of this perfume all day though. I love their style too. Contemporary, and city like if that makes sense. Skin Journey also make amazing products for the skin....and soaps too. Their Etsy is here.

Dress Green...what can I say. This woman is a master of her art. This is the 2nd pot of this cream I've bought. It's the don. My usual cream/balm of choice, especially for nightime use has always been Decleor Essential Night Balm. Pricey to say the least. This little pot here works the same wonders at a fraction of the cost. The ingredients list is mega. Lauren includes wasabi root, green tea, goji berry, licorice & pomegranate in this little pot of goodness, along with a lot more. My skin is so soft and plumped up after using this. I'm an addict...and the smell is lovely. Tea Tree, Sage & Lemon. I've blogged this cream before...you may remember.
Anyhoo, her shop is here.
Check out the amount of feedback....now that's a woman doing the right thing!

This pot 'ere is MINE! I don't sell any other products than soap as I'm not certified too. However, I make them at home for my own use. This is a new brown sugar scrub I made a couple of weeks ago. Inside is Demerara sugar, caster sugar, calendula infused sunflower oil, a shed load of organic shea butter, cinnamon powder & an amazing essential oil blend. The same blend in fact as my 'Harvest Moon' soap. It scrubs, it softens, it moisturises and it smells like heaven to me. Certainly no need for body butter afterwards. The consistency is like cookie dough. I love this stuff. I may branch out eventually once I'm happy with other products I make....but until then, I'll leave you envious (or not!).

Hope you enjoyed this post. I'm off to make that graf soap I've been harping on about.

The Back Porch Lounger

2010-04-06T08:01:00.000+01:00

My inspiration for the following bar of soap.

Balls n rivers of black

sneaky side shot

Back Porch Lounger stack

Log.

I've no idea. Don't even ask me.

I had this name for a soap in my head for a long long time. It was coming up with something to suit it that had me stumped.

All my life I've wanted a back porch with 2 rockers and an infinite landscape to view.

Since watching Fried Green Tomatoes, I've wanted the Threadgood house with it's all-around porch and its warm inner glow.

My dream is kicking back on my back porch with a tall glass of freshly squeezed homemade lemonade with my TWO deerhounds softly snoozing in their beds and Matt in his pottery across the way from my soap workshop. Nice dream ain't it?

Then I got to thinking a little more about this ere soap.

My Lemon Citron soap was due for a revamp. The scent is nice, but not quite right. It looks good, but doesn't sell so well.

Pen to paper and I came up with Lemon (my lemonade), Cedarwood (the wooden back porch thing), Ho Leaf (the buttery warmth) & Litsea Cubeba (to make the lemon more....lemony).

I got to thinking about the stylin'. 2 black lines, balls - it's all been going on since the tutorials!

Organically grown (courtesy of moi) Lemonbalm to add depth to the white half of the mix, then a pale lemon coloured contrast.

The scent is EXACTLY what I wanted. The look of it...not so much.

Matt asked if I'd cut it the next day.....'yeah, come see', I said.

He picks one up....'oh yeah...but it would look better without the balls'.

I agree.

The next batch I make shall have 3 lines, 2 sections of pale lemon, and 2 sections of white with the lemonbalm. Simplicity is key I suppose.

Do you see where I went with this?!

Easter Bank Holiday Soap Sale - WOOP!

2010-04-01T12:31:00.001+01:00

If you'd like to purchase some truly luxurious soaps this Easter, I urge you to check out our shop.

We are running an Easter Sale from Friday 2nd April through Monday 5th April (GMT) with a whopping 25% discount. This will save you ££'s off any soap or sampler pack or bundle.

Go to the FuturePrimitive Soap shop here or my Etsy here.

You can use the discount code (FP25) in the FP shop and the price will be adjusted automatically, or if shopping via etsy please enter the code in the comments box at checkout. The discount will then be refunded via paypal.

No excuses will be accepted if you forget to type the code, so be a bit shop savvy! You gotta put a bit of work in too...

The SALE will end at Midnight on Monday.

Thank You! x

cookin' up a storm

2010-03-29T14:07:00.000+01:00

'cyclone' logs

'cyclone' peaks

just 'cyclone'

My balls

packets ready for sending.

I done made this 'Cyclone' soap yesterday. I didn't have a lot of Juniper oil left, and getting hold of some quickly proved difficult (and expensive), so I tweaked my recipe.

This now has a smidge of black pepper, which is actually quite similar to Juniper in that it has a lot of the same components, which make up the essential oil. I shan't go into the blurb and bore you though.

It smells so so nice. A really light, yet biting scent with an ozonic aroma. I have some available still but was running a little low. I add organic shea to the mix to make it extra good for the skin. To purchase one of the cured bars, click here to buy from FuturePrimitive Soap or click here for Etsy purchasing.

I've been quite busy lately with web orders, which is really great. Thanks to all who have ordered. Your soaps are on their way this week. Whilst packing them up, I thought I'd take a few pics to show the finished articles. I really like the way they look now, though I've been contemplating trying some different coloured strings. I've seen the ones I want, I just gotta go get some. I'm really happy with the new paper. It lets the soap breathe, and keeps them fresher for longer. (God, that sounds like a panty liner ad!).

The picture of the balls is just to show you how nice they look in a pile! Bored again...though not as bored as when I made my spirals!

Today, I had a nightmare with my car. On Friday, I was leaving Cheltenham and as I put my foot down, my car went nuts and decided to shoot off like a rocket, leaving me almost helpless to try to slow it down. Luckily it did, but not without giving me a half heart attack.

I got home in one piece after driving very carefully. All this weekend, it's been fine but I've only been going about 30MPH due to just driving to Tesco etc.

So...this morning, I set off for work and get onto the bypass, put it into 4th gear, then up into 5th and the damn thing does it again! Again, heart pounding like a good 'un, I slow down (just), breathe and think to myself, I'll go to Mums then call the garage and ask them to take a look.

I get to the garage, and my good friend Coley says, 'c'mon let's take it for a spin'. 'Ok, but be careful', says I.

What do you suppose? It doesn't do it does it?! So I now look like a typical dumb woman talking rubbish. We go 70mph, nothing. We go 80mph (hope the police aren't reading this), again nothing.

Coley turns to me and says 'I ain't being funny or nothin' but you don't suppose it could be the mat do you?'. (i did actually think this myself but thought it couldn't be that simple).

Then, it occurred to me...I'd cleaned out my car of crap and debris after going to the tip last week. It was then that I removed the mats, cleaned 'em up and put them back in the other way around.

So...what had been happening was just that. The car only played naughty once my foot pushed the pedal to the metal...and got caught underneath the mat, making the car go crazy, revving at 4ooo revs, and whizzing off like a nutter.

Panic over!....but a warning to all stupid ass women like me all over the world....check the mat before you blame the clutch, engine, brakes, or man.

out-doorsy & in-doorsy pics

2010-03-22T10:08:00.001Z

ces't moi.

I would very much like this door to belong to me.

and this hatch.

Ethan & Bella

Ethan and Nats

Bodhi...very patient.

Seamus - the one who likes to eats icky things!

Refer to my Twitter for details!

Seamus and Bracken

Matt n Nat

Bodhi puppy

Sweet Earth bundle

Dark Arts bundle

Spring Greens bundle

Arabica - the perfect kitchen sinkside companion

Been away a while haven't I?

Well, I have been kinda busy making soaps for a rather large order.

Details of which, I shall be posting shortly. I'm very excited to have been given this project to work on, but at the moment I have to keep schtum.

So....here are just a few pics from the past week or so.

Matt and I went on a seriously long walk yesterday and there are a few pics to show some of the places we ended up...though not nearly enough to give you the whole picture.

1st stop was the local Abbey Park, where we bumped into Mum and Nat on their dog walk.

A few pics of the dogs.

The soap pics are part of the batch I have updated my websites with. I felt they needed a re-vamp so I took the pics on a dull day last week. The perfect light I think.

We have a SALE on the FuturePrimitive website at the mo. All plants in pots are half price so if you want to bag a bargain, head on over to here

The sale on plants is only open to customers within the EU. Sorry!

Can't stop too long today as I have more soap to cut and orders to pack, but thought I'd better update this 'ere blog so you don't forget me!

Hope you are all well.

new batches of regulars

2010-03-01T20:38:00.001Z

Just cut this morning. I tweeted about this soap seizing on me yesterday. It decided to go on me just as I needed to do my dots. I only just managed to save it, but it didn't come out as good as it normally does. Never mind, at least it wasn't a total disaster.
Because my soap batter thickened too quickly, I had to layer instead of the usual random pours.
I actually quite like the layering. It came out good. Not too perfect.

Herbaceous cut up on Sunday. This soap has such a good scent...even if I do say so myself.
It's a blend of Sage, Rosemary, Thyme, Marjoram and Litsea Cubeba (may chang).
A very refreshing herbal scent with a lemon top note. One of my ultimate favourites.
The colour was created after looking at my trusy Farrow & Ball paint chart...again!
Such a good way to think up colours. This duck egg blue was created with TD, ultramarine blue & chromium green oxide.
A good seller at Capability in Cheltenham. If you're ever in the area, you must visit this little treasure trove. It's a really well thought out shop for gardeners. Michele also does garden design.
I'm so pleased she agreed to take my soap last year. She's done really well for me!

Arabica in it's packaging. Now available to buy online here.
I didn't plan on this soap being as scrubby as it is, but I've been using it for the past 3 days in my bath, and it's the DON for exfoliating the whole body.
I like my scrubby bars ultra scrubby, yanno...so it does what it's supposed to. This does a good job, and smells ultra nice. Sweet orange with earthy base notes. I love this and will keep making it as I think folks will love it.

Remember that tutorial I did for Jo's blog? This is the finished, cut up soap we made.
How did yours turn out? I know a few of you had a go as you've been telling me...so do show us.
Leave a comment with your link on this post if you like. Thanks!

Final pic...Herbaceous logs. I love my batches cut into logs. Just a shame to cut 'em all up.
If only I could bathe with a whole log. I might try one day!

harvest moon...already?

2010-02-24T20:08:00.000Z

nice balls.

nice peaks.

A newbie.
I dunno why but I had this 'orange' thing going on in my head for a few days, so I thought before I have to re-produce all of my regular range of soap, I'll get this one outta my system. It kept eating away at me...the colour and how I would achieve it, and knowing there would be a white swirl and also balls in it. Sometimes, the need to create a new one gets to you. It can sometimes be a chore when making the same soaps over and over....for me anyway...anyone else?
So...a bit of pad 'n pen action brought me to an essential oil combo of Sweet Orange, Clove Bud, Patchouli & Ginger. As I write, I'm thinking there's another oil that I added, but I can't remember right now if there is or not! Will have to check my notes...but I can't remember where I put those either.
Never mind. They'll turn up.
Now, I'm not a fan of ginger when smelling it straight outta the bottle...to me it smells somewhat 'doggie'....or rather like 'doggie biscuits', but when added into a blend in very small quantities I find it very, very pleasant.
Even when cutting, this soap smelled divine and after a few days curing the scent has changed a little more into a 'fresh linen'-like scent. Very nice, especially when created naturally.
I didn't have a name until I cut it.
When I sliced the batch open, the balls looked like moons and the colour looked like harvest hay. So, there was my little soap making up it's own name all by itself.
I bring you 'Harvest Moon'.
Funny, I used to sell an Echinacea plant called just that too....but it died every time I tried to grow it.
Hopefully, this soap will live long...and prosper.

Elijah's Comfort reVAMP and something smells fishy...ish

2010-02-16T21:54:00.000Z

New look 'Elijah's Comfort'. Elijah Comfort was Matt's Great Great Grandfather and was a potter at Winchcome. He made fine country pots using red earthenware clay. His name is a treasure in itself, so it was only fitting that I produced a soap in homage to him.
The original soap I made under this name was scented with an artificial rose fragrance oil. It smelled lovely, but I wanted to produce an all natural version using red clay, essential oils and organic butters.
Here we have it. The essential oil blend is: Bourbon Geranium, Petitgrain, Sweet Orange & Lemon. A sweet scent with a citrus top note. I added a dose of rose petals to the red to bring a little black into the equation along with a smidge of titanium dioxide for contrast.
I love how it turned out. It will be available from FuturePrimitive Soap and in my Etsy within the next 4 weeks.

nice chunky swirls and peaks. I just wanna sink my teeth in.

Here is another newbie. One without a name as yet. This soap contains seaweed powder, which when cut gave off a fish-like aroma. Noice!
It's curing out well at the moment, with little or no hints of fish as the days progress. Also in this batch, I added some Aussie organic yellow clay, and some dead sea mud mixed with sand, which I took from Gwithian beach in Cornwall last year, whilst on holibobs. On the top is a sprinkling of sea salt. The essential oil blend is: Lavender, Spearmint and Ho Leaf. Ho Leaf has fast become one of my all time favoured oils to use in soap. It has a buttery, warm scent. Just lovely.
I want to dream up a name to compliment the main ingredients...so something ocean inspired but not too obvious. I'll keep writing down ideas til I get it. This one is proving difficult though.

The beige colour is the yellow clay, the very dark colour is the seaweed, which must've reacted with the soap as it started out a nice olive green. The lighter colour is the dead sea mud and sand mix.

I've been rather tied up of late with making soap and sorting plants for the season, so sorry for my absence. I am however tweeting regularly...the usual shite that I churn out of my mouth!
Come follow me if you dare!
Hope you're all well and happy.
Catch up with you all soon x

Arabica - A New Soap...and new soap packaging

2010-02-07T19:23:00.000Z

A new soap named 'Arabica' with real coffee, honey, chocolate, cocoa butter and an essential oil blend of Orange, Vetiver, Patchouli, Clove Bud, Cinnamon & Ho Leaf. I'm not sure about the scent at the moment. I cannot stand the smell that comes from a fresh cut soap that has food items in it...it just doesn't smell nice at all. This however, I think will be real good once it's cured.
I shall let you know...!

Arabica - cut

Arabica - not out of the mold yet

the road to Childswickham...we went out today!

soap samplers available in my etsy

new packaging of No.11

new packaging on 'Potters Bar'

Not too much to write today as i'm cream crackered.

Drank a little too much last night so have felt a little worse for wear all day today. Though, Matt and I did go out for a bit to try and find the spot where an old pottery used to be near Winchcombe. We didn't find it! Well...it was there in the 1800's so it's not surprising really.

The weather was hazey and cold today, so I just wanna sunggle up and watch TV tonight, so that's exactly what I'm gonna do.

I've been busy making soap again as the batches I made over Xmas have all pretty much gone. That can only be good...but a bit stressful. Hope I can muster the energy to get going again tomorrow. We all deserve a day off sometimes don't we....?

Anyhoo, hope you're all well this sunday.

Anyone in the UK noticed how the nights are getting longer.....?

Only a few more weeks til the clocks change. Can't blooming wait.

Amazingly Awesome Amber's Ambry

2010-01-30T18:06:00.000Z

The other night I came home from work (from my job in cheltenham) to the best surprise ever.
I won the competition a few weeks back on Amber's Ambry.
I received the most beautifully made pouch - made with the lovliest fabric. I absolutely love it.
Inside the pouch was a bunch of goodies for the body. The packaging on the scrub was my favourite. Oldy worldy and vintagey (is that a word?) in brown paper. The font she uses just makes me squeel. I know...you may find this odd, but I love fonts! I use so many different ones when doing my own packaging, but when I see somebody elses work, I feel I need to up my game.
So let me give you a rundown of the items:
1st up was the spiced pumpkin soap with clay. A deep earthy red soap with cinnamon tones. I didn't know which one I'd got so I've been on Amber's website to check 'em all out. This soap was the first one I used as it had been a cold cold winters day and I needed warming up, and the scent hit me and made me think of cosy bed sheets and being pampered by my grandma (who I loved more than anybody in the whole world), so thank you for the way this soap made me feel Amber. Weird isn't it, how scent and aesthetics can evoke memories of special people.
2nd up I used that same night was the vanilla latte body scrub. The scent was just like hot milky coffee. Again, a good winter warmer. This stuff is awesome! I scooped a little out and rubbed it down my arms, over my chest, down my legs and on my bum! The sugar scrubbed well, and then disintigrated leaving behind silky, nourished skin. Really goooooood.
3rd up was Amber's loofah soap. I haven't used any other products yet so this is sitting in the pouch waiting til I've run out of Spiced Pumpkin. But, let me tell you...it smells fresh, delightful and like a fresh spring day. I love loofah soaps, and never make them myself so this is gonna be a real treat. It feels waxy, and wholesome in the hands.
4th up was a chunk of poppy seed hot process soap. Again, this smells amazing. Can't quite put my finger on the scent, but then I don't need to. I shall make my own mind up as to what I think it smells like in due course. Again, a very wholesome looking soap and I love the way it's been cut (not perfect which I like better than perfectly squared off bars).
5th up is the hand balm in 'Red Apple'. A subtle apple scent - not too overpowering which is nice. The thing about Amber and her style is she seems quite understated yet you can tell she has a real homely feel to her person, and that, I think is reflected in each and every one of these products. She has made me feel loved and cosied up, and I've never even met her. All I know of Amber is her lovely blog. Even that makes me go woozy. I'm sure you all agree.

So that's the products...but lets not forget the pouch. The finish of it is perfection, and I love the little tag with her apple logo and the two buttons on the front. Just heaven.
I shall be going for a dip in a couple hours, so I shall continue with that spiced soap and I may even treat myself to a little more of that coffee scrub.
I feel completely indulged. After such hard times, this came as the best treat I could've wished for and I am eternally grateful and happy to have won Amber's comp.

AMBER, I SALUTE YOU AND ALL THAT YOU ARE.
THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU

Amber's Etsy shop is here if you feel tempted by my mini review. I actually do myself!
(and check out the poo soap, which made me laugh loudly).

make-over

2010-01-22T21:15:00.000Z

New look 'humbug' with e.o's of Peppermint, Spearmint and an additional drop or two of Marjoram...also with 'herbaceous' soap balls dusted with cocoa powder, and activated charcoal and rhassoul. Since I will be doing away with 'moulouya' once it's all gone, this one I hope will stand in its place.

'Potters Bar' with e.o's of Lavender, Fennel, Lemon & Eucalyptus. I originally put fennel into this soap, but then decided I didn't like it, so the following batch didn't have any in it.... I must have been doin a mental to leave it out...so i put it back in! Smells herbal fresh.

new 'Cyclone' with e.o's of petitgrain, geranium, clary sage, juniper and now with additional lemongrass, which has totally lifted the whole scent blend. Exactly what it needed.

The pic is a bit over purple...sorry, i've had a few ales!

No. 11. Same e.o blend as ever...lavender, ylang ylang, vetivert & patchouli.

My absolute favourite scent combo. With this I wanted to try to get the scent of the soap to resemble 'Aromatherapy Associates - Deep Relax' bath oil. Almost there....but the natural soap scent still comes through...probably a good thing. That's the only bath oil I know of that can send me to sleep. It's a bottle of heaven to me.

'Lemon Citron' with e.o's of lemon, grapefruit, chamomile & now with a drop of Geranium to stick the scent a bit more. Love how this one turned out this time.

Enough pics...here's what's been happening:

I have been mega slack on the blog front this past week. I've managed a few tweets, but that's about it.

My kitchen is currently undergoing a transformation, courtesy of my step dad, Martin. He's doing an amazing job. He's built me some base units from scratch, has moved my washing machine to where I want it, and installed me a wonderful belfast sink. I came home this evening not knowing how far he'd got, but he has made the doors for my units, and has made me a new cupboard for my soap supplies. Amazing.

The first part of this month has been spent making batch upon batch of soap to re-stock.

I've really enjoyed it and have tweaked a few of the scents. Making the decision to only use essential oils has opened up my mind to new and exciting blends that I've not tried before. Also, when I made the blends for the egg bombs, it filled me with lots of soap ideas.

I placed an order with Fresholi last week for some of their organic cocoa & shea butters (in my opinion theirs are the absolute best), and a few new essential oils to try out.

I'm really enjoying my coffee at the mo so I've a new coffee inspired soap in mind. The Caramel Macchiato I had yesterday at Starbucks got me thinking, so I shall be planning a rich but sweet blend along with some 70% cocoa chocolate, sheeps milk, honey, vanilla pods and palm sugar.

That's about it for now.

Ooh..one last thing..check this out...I'm on the front page! http://www.cotswoldstyle.co.uk/

from soil 'n trees 'n leaves to soap molds...

2010-01-10T17:21:00.000Z

I have a stack of soap to make at the mo, so what better time to show you how I make 'Potters Bar'...?
I have made a conscious decision to discontinue my organic range of soap and haul 'em on over to the botanical range, which after looking at figures from last year was the most popular range and the one most talked about. Nothing like looking at the details to see which bit of your mini business you are getting right. Yes, that means there will be no more fragrant range or organic range, but there will be lots of new soaps made with 100% natural ingredients all scented with essential oils to be getting stuck into instead. So as it stands, I shall have a botanical soap range along with some more new products including the egg bombs from my last post.
Another reason for quitting the organic is the rising cost of organic essential oils and organic palm oil. I'm all for fair trade, and for sourcing products sustainably but for now the organics must wait....until the price drops!
Right, now that I've told you...here's how botanical Potters Bar soap is made along with a rundown of the ingredients used to produce it.

well obviously that's me.. in my new apron that mummy bought for me for xmas...nice huh!

caustic soda mixed with mineral water (yes there is a little residue from the caustic floating on the top....it happens sometimes).

essential oils..left to right: fennel (foeniculum vulgare), lemon (citrus limon), lavender (lavandula angustifolia), eucalyptus (eucalyptus globulus). In each batch of 10lb soap, I add a minimum of 60ml (about 16 teaspoons).

coconut oil and palm oil ready for melting on the hob.

olive oil & sunflower oil mixed - into which I shall pour the melted coconut & palm.

pure, unrefined organic cocoa butter

organic soya oil for mixing titanium dioxide and any other colour i may be using.

wheatbran - for exfoliating gardeners or potters hands...or for breakfast

soya oil with titanium dioxide on the right and the same on the left but with 1/2 tsp of chromium green oxide added to give the pale green colour (love that)

heavily traced soap...with the green mix added to the left batch and the white TD added to the right batch

let the layering begin...already poured some of the white into the mold and now using a spatula to gently place on top of the white before patting down a little ready for the next layer.

You need to have really thickly traced soap to do this...well I find it helps. Also, when working with essential oils the mix doesn't tend to seize like it can when using fragrance oils

the finished batch sprinkled with lavender flowers and soap shreds

That's it!
Want some? you'll have to wait til it's cured...in about a month!

my reward! oh...just noticed the knife...that's not a good advert. Matt is still alive....honest!

a week in the life...of a snowed in Brit

2010-01-09T15:50:00.000Z

new product prototype...free range egg bombs. so far i have made orange, ylang ylang & black pepper bombs and lavender, tea tree & bergamot bombs.
i have 4 more to come up with to make a half dozen mixed bombs in a half dozen egg box.
geranium & patchouli shall be made in a sec after i've written this, then it'll be back to the pad n pen to write down ideas.

boxed egg bombs

The newly named 'Moulouya'...now called 'Moulouya Moon'. I've been meaning to try out using soap balls to make some of my soaps more aesthetically pleasing and love the ones made by other soapers..a few folks do this so naming them all would be tedious..but you know who you are and thank you for the inspiration.

In Moulouya Moon (for men...and sneaky women) are the following ingredients:

coconut, palm, sunflower & olive oils, rhassoul mud (from the Moulouya valley in Morocco), a smidge of activated charcoal and 'herbaceous' soap balls.

The scent is Tobacco Leaf, which smells deep, dark, manly, cosy, warm and fresh all at the same time. I love it.
Matt did the peaking with the chopstick on this particular batch. Good lad!

a nice close up

Ethan, my nephew and his chiclet teeth!

Natalie, my older 'make up mad' sister. Aw..doesn't she look cute!

My brother in law (nats' husband), The Duke (aka Stephen Huxley). He likes lots of heavy rock music....and food!

pretty snow trees in Hampton, Evesham. UK

Frodo Baggins et al....

Our lovely local park in Evesham, Worcs. UK...covered in a smooth white blanket.

A whale's jaw bone in the Pleasure Gardens, Waterside, Evesham, UK.

Avenue of Lime Trees in the Pleasure Gardens

some crazy loony tunes...fishing...!

So, those pics pretty much sum up this past week.

I cannot get to my job in Cheltenham, Glos. UK as the roads are so awful.

The UK is crap at dealing with snow in these colossal amounts. We haven't really had snow this deep since I was a kid in the 80's.

Some parts of the river are now frozen...I have never seen that happen in all the 37 years I've been alive.

Tesco's is a joke. No bread left, no flour to make the bread, no minced beef (!), but so much other stuff to eat it's not as if 'The Day After Tomorrow' is upon us...c'mon people get real.

*saying that, if i do get stuck with no food my friend Mark down the road has loads of grub*

Not being able to get to Cheltenham has rendered me a little creative..what else could I do with all this spare time?

So...I made some batches of much-needed soap, some new products including the egg bombs...aren't they cute? A few more tweaks to the packaging and they'll be ready for sale.

I also treated myself to a new skincare regime courtesy of No. 7 products available at Boots.

They had an offer of buy 2 get 3rd product free. So...I got their version of Liz Earle's Cleanse & Polish. I've been a fan of Liz Earle's amazing products for a few years but yesterday noticed the No.7 version so am trying out for a bit. You get double the amount and it's a few quid cheaper. I also got the pore refining serum and the day cream. So far so good.

There's probably a ton more stuff I could tell you but right now I want to go and make those new egg bombs..I got the bug. Love it!